


Grotesque Child

by Atzen_Mierge



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Bendy's beginnings, Gen, I hope ya'll like the extras!, I'm making the mistake of making more, One Shot Collection, The rest is extra if one likes the idea, Vocabulary 100, as in very descriptive, you can just read the first chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-01-04 10:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 29,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18341621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atzen_Mierge/pseuds/Atzen_Mierge
Summary: After a long time of planning and preparation, Tom and Joey create their first toon: Bendy. He comes out perfectly! He can sing, dance, play and greet others kindly! Only there's one tiny, glaring issue: he's completely off model.





	1. Grotesque Child

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this twice. Not because it was bad- which I think it was- but because the document got corrupted. Good thing I remembered almost every small progressive step that I wrote!

The dark clouds rolled over one another to blanket the bright moon. Everything was relatively quiet in the forest as things were asleep. That was except for the studio built within the forest.

In the floors below the surface there were two men busy tending to a whirring machine. The cacophony of meticulous metal workings deafened the room. Black ink poured out it's large, metal nozzle as it was being pushed through the machine itself through cogs and pistons. Once the liquid ooze touched the wooden boards steam billowed forth. If the underground room was chilly before, it definitely wasn't now.

The two men, Joey and Thomas, stepped back further as the ink spread and were stopped up near the wall when the machine gave out a final toll with a following drop of an inner weight. The room was now still and silent.

Tom kicked at the pooled ink lightly. Joey stared hopefully at it. Both waited with a differing amount of bated breath.

“Don't think it worked, Joey,” Tom sighed. He rubbed sluggishly at his black ringed eyes. Joey said nothing and continued to stare at the ink. Tom did the same.

Joey breathed out as he crouched down, staring at his barely visible reflection. He placed his hands over his face. “Why can't I just get this to work?” This question was muttered quite often now. Tom crouched down next to him. “Every time... I thought I _had it_ this time! I really did...”

Something flickered at the corner of Tom's eye. He turned his head. The ink was wiggling. “Maybe it did work...,” Tom whispered. Joey turned to look at Tom who directed his gaze with a pointed finger. Joey's eyes widened and a slow, wide smile crept unto his face.

“Oh my word!” he whisper yelled. The ink wriggled into smaller masses at the edge of the spill. The rest began separating by coagulating into large blobs. They wove and writhed over one another to create a larger mass. The ink that was spread upon the floor was now gathered into one form: Bendy.

Or what seemed to resemble Bendy. It looked as if the character was stretched over a human skeleton like an inky flesh suit. It was wet and sappy looking with a large grin upon it's face. Deep and loud, rattling and wet breathing filled the room.

It was wrong. Everything felt wrong. There was a sickening aura coming off from the newly formed creature in tidal waves. Tom stared wide-eyed at the thing sitting back casually with it's elbows propping up it's upper half on the floor. Joey's smile had reversed.

“Hiya!” Bendy suddenly spoke, waving a hand before putting it back behind him, and caused the two to flinch.

“What the hell?!” Joey stood up and bent over clutching his hair within his fists. “It's just another failure! The one time it works and I get--!” He sprung up and sharply gestured to the demon. “I can't take this. I'm leaving. Get rid of it will ya, Tom?” Joey turned on his heel to the stairs.

“Wait! Joey! I- What-?!” But Joey was already too far gone. His attention whipped back to Bendy with his mouth still hung open. He shut it.

Tom stared at Bendy. Bendy did the same.

“I win!” Bendy exclaimed, the raspy breathing momentarily pausing.

Tom blinked, fear was overridden by confusion. “Huh?”

“You blinked!” The demon explained. Tom didn't say anything. “I thought we were playing the staring game.”

Recognition crossed the man's face. “Oh! Oh. No, I wasn't...” Silence quickly made to fill the space again but Bendy interrupted it's advance.

“Then what _are_ we doing?”

Tom considered his options and slowly got onto his feet. “Well, _I_ 'm going home. I'm tired and Joey kept me here into the most ungodly hours of the morning.”

Bendy stood up as well. His posture slouched wickedly at the top of his spine and petered off to the side. His legs closely faced one another, knees almost touching to keep the twisted toon standing.

“What about me?”

Tom drew a blank. “I don't know...” A pregnant pause. “What _do_ you want to do?”

Dark sharp shoulders shrugged. “I 'unno.”

“It is late... maybe you should sleep; get some rest.” What was he doing? He was supposed to get rid of this creature, not do whatever he's doing. However Tom was feeling just the slightest bit petty towards Drew. Letting this Bendy live wouldn't hurt would it?

“Where do I sleep? Should I sleep here?”

“Nah. You can sleep up in Joey's office. Come.” He waved for Bendy to follow him up the few flights of stairs. Bendy of course complied but this seemed to be a minor mistake on Tom's part. As Bendy drew closer to follow, the feeling of fear and dread increased tenfold. He wanted to run for the hills but Tom didn't act on this; he barely flinched. Tom's reasoning was that he shouldn't act on something unless there was a sane reason for it. Bendy was not hostile, was extremely friendly in fact, so there was no reason for what he felt.

A pair of tapping rubber soles and splats of inky feet made their way up to the ground level and then some. The studio could be described as an iceberg: large two stories on top but _way_ bigger down below. Tom quickly lead Bendy to Drew's office and held the door open for him. Bendy wandered past the threshold and stopped somewhere in the middle of the room.

“Here we are.” Bendy looked around. “Would you like me to get you a few blankets or are you fine with how it is?”

“Ooo! Yes please! Blankets would be nice.”

“Alright, be right back.” Tom turned out the door and went straight to the animation room. There was bound to be some blankets there- maybe even a pillow. And lo and behold there was. A side chair that was sitting up against the wall had a pile of blankets sitting on it. Tom grabbed a couple but then grabbed a few more. Bendy was pretty tall. He was also made out of ink and Tom wasn't sure the blankets would survive. Whatever, he was sure the animators were covered in ink themselves. There wasn't a pillow so Tom grabbed an extra blanket for replacement.

He came back with the bundle of blankets in his arms, lightly kicking the door open.

“Got 'em.”He set the blankets down on the floor. Bendy went over and grabbed a few and went over to one of the many large dresser cabinets. He pulled out the bottom shelf with one hand and dumped the blankets in it with the other.

Tom raised a brow questioningly at Bendy's choice but didn't say anything about it. Bendy climbed in the drawer with the last of the blankets and folded himself into the tiny space. The demon's knobby knees poked out and over the side, his spine curling in on itself as the pointed vertebrae hit against the back. There was just enough room for the skeletal toon except for the head, which rested on the outer corner of the drawer.

“You good?” Tom said after Bendy settled down.

“Yep!”

“Alright. See you tomorrow. Good night.” Tom was about to reach the door when the demon called out to him again.

“Wait!” Tom turned with a questioning hum. “Can you tuck me in?” Bendy's head lifted expectantly.

' _What is he? A child?_ ' Tom thought. He made his way over to Bendy. Again, the closer he got to the toon the more unsettled he got. It was ever more pungent when he knelt down to reach over and tuck the blanket around the demon's form.

“There we go. Anything else?” Tom looked tiredly to Bendy. He wasn't known for being patient but he'd try for Bendy's sake.

“Yes!” came the immediate answer. Tom waited. “Goodnight kiss?”

“Sure,” Tom found himself saying. He blamed his sleepiness for his judgment. The man briefly wondered if he'd accidentally get ink on his face but it was fleeting; he already leaned forward to what he supposed was Bendy's forehead.

Surprisingly Bendy wasn't at all how he seemed to look. This could be said for everything but in this case he wasn't wet. In fact he felt more like the texture of jello but more solid. And he was pleasantly warm, not cold. Even the aura seemed to disappear entirely for that moment.

“There. You got your goodnight kiss... anything else before I go?”

Bendy leaned his head forward and tapped his teeth against the man's lower cheek. “Mwaahh!”

Tom tilted his head down and breathed in. How... sweet. Yes, it was sweet. Unsettlingly endearing.

“G'nite uncle Tom!”

“I'm not your-... Good night.” He patted between the demon's misshapen horns, stood, and left.

 

 

Sun beamed away the blanket of clouds but could barely budge those clustered within the pine. Everything was active in the forest as things went about their day. The studio within was still awake, though with a couple hours of sleep if that.

Tom drove off from the main road and onto a side one. The pavement wasn't of a well grade but no cracks had appeared yet. The tires rumbled as he weaved through the trees. He looked ahead through the light fog with eyes that still retained most of the dark bags.

As he got closer he could make out a full parking lot. He knew he had come late but there shouldn't have been this many cars yet. Closer and closer he drove and he could see that it wasn't actually just cars, it was a mass of people.

' _Oh, right_.' Tom's slow and sleep deprived mind remembered that Bendy was in there. He carefully rolled past people to park. He turned off the engine and before he could even step out, Joey Drew was already making a dash for him. He locked the car and readied himself internally.

Joey slowed down and huffed. “Thomas Connor!”

“Hm.”

“I thought I told you to get rid of that thing?!”

“Yea?”

“Yea. And who knows what the inside looks like? It probably trashed the place!”

“Yea?! Well I doubt it.”

“Doubt it?- What--?” Joey rose his arms up halfheartedly but dropped them again, shaking his head.

“It's coming closer!” An employee yelled as he fled from the front entrance. Others moved further away from the door, murmuring.

“Give me a sec.” Tom saw an out and he was going to take it. He went for the door. If Joey said or yelled anything, Tom decided he didn't want to hear it.

He opened the door to Norman Polk holding up one of the many fire axes the studio owned threateningly. The projectionist was glaring at the figure of Bendy. Tom's eyes went wide.

“Oh no-! Norman!” He put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Don't!”

“Huh?”

“Let me talk to him first, ok?” He backed up to Bendy, holding up his arms in a placating gesture.

“Tom--!”

“Hello uncle Tom! Short time, no see!” Bendy was ignored.

“It's fine Norman, just give me a sec!” He tugged Bendy's arm and lead him off down the hall. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Bendy stumbled clumsily behind him as he had to lean down.

“In here.” Tom quickly opened the door to the tiny office room and rushed him inside, closing the door just as fast.

The demon looked around. “Tiny room,” he noted.

Tom didn't wait any longer and went right to the point. “Alright... What happened?”

“You pulled me into a room?”

“No, not that.” Tom batted a hand. “People are holed up in the parking lot, scared. What happened?”

“They ran away from me screaming. All I did was say hi to them, so why did they run away?”

The handyman looked at the failed toon up and down with a deadpanned face. He was about to say something but stopped to rethink it. “You're not like any other creature anyone has ever seen before so it would make sense they would be afraid.”

Bendy's mouth opened. Understanding seemed to strike. It closed. “Ahh, ok! So my approach was wrong. I'll try again! Hello new friends!” He got ready to step out the door but Tom grabbed his arm again.

“How about I help introduce you to everyone, yea?”

The demon smiled more. “Ok, uncle Tom!” The man shook his head and exited the room first, Bendy trailing behind. For some odd reason Tom hadn't even felt Bendy's aura. He didn't argue.

The two rounded the corner to find that Norman was still waiting in the middle of the room, this time the ax was held at rest but was quickly pulled up.

“Easy, Norman. It's alright. Bendy won't hurt you. Right Bendy?”

“Yea!”

“He just wants to meet people.” He jabbed a thumb in Bendy's direction.

“O-oh?” the projectionist said with a look of disbelief.

“Yea, so put your ax down.” Norman did so, slowly, with wary eyes. Tom rose a hand in offer to Bendy. “Say hello, kid.”

The warped toon took a few steps forward and held out his gloved hand. Norman flinched hard but held himself still.

“Hi, I'm Bendy! It's nice to meet you Norman! Your name is Norman, right?”

Norman automatically shook the offered hand and relaxed a little. “Yea, you're right.”

“Wait a second! You the projectionist, aren't you?”

“I-I am! How did you-?”

“Alright Bendy, you can talk to Norman later. This studio has work to do and if we want the animators to survive we should get you introduced quickly as soon as possible,” he interjected, once again guiding Bendy by the arm out to the entrance. God knew the animators needed all the time they could get with Joey's ever tightening schedule.

Though, Bendy still had more to say. “Sorry for the short chat! I would love to talk more but Tom says I got to introduce myself to more people now! See ya, uncle Norman!”

The door closed on a very bewildered projectionist.

 

 

As soon as the door had opened several workers outside leaned closer in curiosity before reeling back from the entrance of the studio when the tall stature of Bendy was seen. In their heightened panic most were partially blind to note that Tom was standing particularly close to the creature.

“Would ya'll just calm down?! Jeez.” He pinched between his clenched eyes and then addressed the crowd again. “Don't worry, he's friendly,” he said this like he was trying to console a frightened animal – which he was, just with more than one animal. “In fact, all he wants is to say hello. Go ahead Bendy.”

Given the go-ahead, the demon quickly took to it with whipping his arms above his head. “Hi humans! My name is Bendy and I was born yesterday. It's really nice to meet you all!”

Even if Bendy had a persistent off-putting aura, the genuine affection and innocent excitement trumped it. It calmed most of everybody and the look of fear was replaced with bewilderment and shock. Joey looked pissed.

Tom noticed but his eyes flicked away. “Now that that's out of the way, I'm pretty sure we should get to working. Cartoons aren't going to make themselves.”

And just like that the day began.

 


	2. Gift Bearing Janitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First of the extra chapters! In this piece Wally has to fix a pipe down in the Music Department. Wally, not having the best opinion about Sammy, decides to bring Bendy along.

In the far end of the studio sat Wally in the showing room. He was tipped back in his chair, feet kicked up high on the chair in front of him and reading the weekly newspaper. The janitor had recently fixed the pipe in the room and cleaned the ink that had steadily leaked from it.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to keep fixing the pipes but maintenance was included in his job description. Plus Joey hadn't gotten on his ass about it yet, so he supposed it was fine.

The showing room was the least noisy part of the studio. Granted he could still hear murmurs of other fellow employees. That included the heavy bangs of an animator's suffering head against the solid wood of their desk. It happened often and today it had happened twice so far – he liked to keep count.

However this solace could not deafen the sound of Sammy's calling voice from the stairway down.

“Wally?!”

The janitor sighed and sat his paper down. His short lived break was once again over.

“Wally Franks!”

“Yes Sammy?!”

“Another damned pipe broke!”

“I'm comin' Sammy,” he yelled.

“And hurry up!”

“I said I'm comin'!”

The door to the stairway slammed. Wally begrudgingly got up and headed out to the janitorial closet. He was close as he rounded the corner but his quick pace faltered.

It was Bendy.

'Out of all the places it could be right now, why here?' he thought. The bony demon was sitting in the wooden chair in front of the closet, facing the wall. As Wally crept closer he could hear the toon quietly humming.

'Maybe I can take what I need and go without it noticing?' He stepped closer and the humming stopped. Wally's face dropped.

Bendy whipped to look at him with an eyeless face. “Uncie Wally!”

'Ah christ-!”

“What's up; how are you doing?”

“I'm uh, doing- doing  _fine_.” He phrased it more as a question. The man hadn't gotten to speak with the demon yet. He hadn't tried to; he avoided it.

“So am I! Though I'm a little bored.”

“Bored huh? Then why don't you go do something?” This was perfect opportunity to get the toon demon to leave.

“I  _was_  doing something, but the animators wanted me to sit in this chair.”

“They did? Huh... well- I have to fix a pipe for Sammy-...” Wally stopped. A look crossed his face. Bendy tilted his head. “You said you were bored, right?”

“Yes?” Bendy perked up, liking where this was going.

“Would you like to do something?” Bendy's head excitedly nodded. “You wouldn't mind helping me with uh...  _fixing_  the pipes, would you?”

“Sure!”

“Great! Just give me a second, I have to get some supplies from the closet here.” Wally opened the door and barely had to rummage through anything. He leaned back out with 3 stacked buckets hanging on one arm, a mop, a heavily stained towel, and a hefty tool box. He shut the door with said box.

“Oh so that's why you came over here!”

“Yep. Now come on!  _Sammy_  needs a pipe fixed!

A slam. “Wally! What's taking you?!”

“Be right there Sammy!” Wally called back with a grin.

“I don't have all day!” The door slammed again.

The janitor looked to Bendy with the grin still stuck on his face. “I think we should hurry up otherwise I fear that Mr. Lawrence will blow a vessel.” They made their way to the stairway.

Bendy gaped. “He's gonna blow up a ship?!”

“What?!” Wally opened the door and look incredulously at Bendy. “No! A  _blood_  vessel, not a ship.” He laughed lightly. Why was he even afraid of this thing?

“A blood vessel? Oh no! But... I suppose that's better than destroying ships...”

“Ehh! It's a saying anyways.”

They made it to the bottom of the staircase. Wally couldn't believe how Sammy was able to have the drive to keep running up it. Though anger most likely sufficed.

Already he could see the ink wafting from the band room. Each time it reached out it was prevented by a too large of a gap between the floorboards. He hoped that he wouldn't have to be asked to clean it, he didn't want to have to rip up floorboards.

“Alright Sammy! I'm here! And I brought help!”

“Wally!” Stomping could be head coming from the balcony. “I'll have you know that while you were dragging your ass, precious instruments  _needed_  for the show were destroyed! If you were here faster, less would have been ink logg- uh...” Sammy's rant died on his lips when he saw the 'help'.

“What's wrong Sammy?” Wally grinned, “We came to  _save_  your waterlogged instruments.” Sammy shut his jaw and promptly went back up.

The janitor laughed. “Alright, Bendy, let's get to work!” Bendy made a noise of agreement.

Both waded into the band room. Ink was relentlessly pouring out from the busted pipe and was creating a strong current upon the floor. Wally was used to this and thus had the forethought of getting himself some fishing pants. They were stained to the waist but as long as it kept Wally from getting soaked then he couldn't complain. Bendy's limp seemed to ease as he swam more rather than walked. It was like he was on ice.

The man looked around at the mess the flood had caused already. “Bendy, how 'bout you lean the chairs up against the wall, left of the projector wall, and place any instruments you can find onto them. Be careful not to let any more fall into the ink, ok? I'll be over here tryin' to patch this up.”

“Yes sir, Uncie Wally!” the demon saluted.

“You're having it handle my instruments?! It's made of ink Wally!” Sammy screeched incredulously from his safe haven.

Wally shrugged, still trudging towards the busted pipe. “I'm killing to birds with one stone.”

“More like killing my instruments!”

“Do you want me to fix this pipe?” Sammy shut his mouth. Wally shook his head and set down his tool box to rifle through it.

Meanwhile Bendy was having a hay day. He hadn't ever been submerged in ink before and he could feel everything it felt as if it was an extension of himself. For example he could feel the janitor's feet move through the black ink. He could even feel the vibrations of their shouting voices bouncing off its surface. The shapes of the instruments could also be found easily within the running substance.

Wally wouldn’t be able to patch the pipe that easily with all the ink running but he’s done this plenty of times before. Since the pipe would have to be replaced anyhow with it’s broken glass case, a patch should suffice.

He reached into his toolkit and took out three containers, two were filled. He held the empty one between his legs as there wasn’t any place to set it down, and he poured the substances from both full bottles into the container. He quickly set both down back inside the kit and took out a wooden coffee stir. He mixed the two substances together until it started to get a little too hard to stir. He set the wooden stir back in the kit. While he was doing so, he took out a roll of reinforced cloth and scissors. Wally patched up the pipe by dipping pieces into the new substance and applying it from the edges of the broken glass.

As Wally was making his second round of patching, he could feel Bendy’s familiar presence behind him.

“Bees and wasps do that.”

“Huh?” Ink decided in that opportune moment that it would spurt out and enter his mouth. “Gahk!” He sputtered and the backs of his hands were brought to his mouth as he hacked out the substance.

“Sorry! Did I surprise you?” The demon asked concerned.

“No,” he coughed, “Nah, ya didn’t… ya didn’t.” He caught his breath.

Bendy seemed to consider the janitor’s condition. A smile appeared on his face when he thought of something. “Would you like some help?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can control the ink so that you can fix the pipe easier!”

Wally blinked. His eyes widened and his eyebrows went up. “Yes, by all means!” He stepped aside. Instead of coming over to him like the man had expected, Bendy went to the wall instead. The demon raised his hand up to the crease where the secure for the pipe and the wall met. When his fingers met the metal the white of his mostly perfect glove dissolved into black.

The ink that flowed through the pipe was no longer flowing out haphazardly. It was now moving through an invisible tube. Wally stared at it in wonder.

“I didn’t want to be in your way while you worked,” Bendy explained.

The man just nodded, caught his bearings and said a quick “thanks” before continuing to work. The pipe was patched in no time and since the ink was contained and controlled that meant that his supplies wouldn’t have to be replaced as quickly.

“Alright,” he patted the cast, “I think that’ll do.” Bendy’s hand retracted from the crease. Wally looked to the ground.

“I got it!” The ink demon said. The pool of spilled ink moved towards Bendy like he himself was a drain. In no time the ink cleared from the floor, not one spec of it left behind. Wally could also see that the floor and the walls looked much more brighter. The ink would heavily stain the wood unless treated with acetone but even then the stuff couldn’t reach the depths of the wood like the ink was able to do. Wally was glad he didn’t need the buckets and mop.

“Thanks. I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped but my aching back thanks you.”

“Well tell your aching back that I say ‘you’re welcome’.”

Wally laughed. “Will do!” He turned to look up high to the balcony. “Sammy!” he called, “We’re all done here!”

Steps were heard coming from the entrance to the band room rather than the balcony. “That was quick!” The musician paused to glare at Bendy.

Wally, seeing Sammy’s glare, put a hand on Bendy’s arm which rocked him to the side from the light force. “That’s because I had Bendy to help me,” he pointed, “He’s very handy!”

“It’s true!” Bendy held up his hands to show, flexing his fingers and turning his wrists. “I’m very handy!”

“Not like that, silly!” The man roughed his shoulder and then set his hand down.

Sammy’s glare extended to the janitor as well. “Hm.” His head turned in the direction of the seated instruments that were clean of ink and then looked back to the demon. He sized him up and nodded. He left without saying much more.

“Huh. I'd say that's a job well done!” Wally smiled at the demon.

“I say so too, and I do! It looks spic and span!”

“Eh... kinda. But we can leave the re-arranging to Sammy.

“Imma head back to finish up on my reading. If you need me, you know where I'll be.”

“I know where everyone is- and you can call on me too if you need anything.”

“Thanks. See ya around Bendy,” Wally waved as he headed back up to the showing room.

'What a nice toon.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't notices, I added another extra chapter.The new addition is going to be the 5th chapter, however.


	3. Jammed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one features Jackaboi! It's Shawn but whatever.

The job was simple: start up the machine, feed more fabric, stuffing and string into the machine every so often, oil the machine once or twice a day, and fix the machine if it ever broke- which was rare. Other than that? Shaun didn't have to do much else but sit around, maybe sweep the store and make sure everything on the shelves were pristine. Of course stocking and storing came before the day ended but that was minor.

Today it seemed the machine decided to fault. Shawn was busy designing a new doll when a loud clang jolted him out of his flow state. The disturbing noise was quickly followed by continuous, grating whirring and the occasional click. The conveyor belt shook at the halted machinery.

The Irishman stood to inspect the problem. He leaned forward onto one foot to peer up into the machine's mouth.

“Huh. That's odd,” his voice echoed off the metal plates. “Looks to be... I _think_... a doll got stuck. Oh man, it's really wedged in there,” he thought aloud and leaned back out. He took a glance at the switch but knew he couldn't turn it off. Since the whole machine was jammed he couldn't; it wouldn't work.

“I _really_ don't want to stick my hand up there! Ugh... Don't worry little guy! I'll get you! Once I figure out how to get you out safely, without losing my hand, that is.” He looked around his tiny little area, hoping that this time there would be something to help him. This hadn't been the first time a doll clogged up the works and Shaun was certain it wouldn't be the last.

Slowly the man wandered out of the room muttering a half made response of “I swear I could've seen something...” that was finished in his head. Down the stairs and up the lift the tiny man was in a zone. Too busy with spotting a tool shape that he hadn't focused on where exactly he was going.

However he was very perceptive to things somewhat out of place and that was how he ended up not ramming into Bendy. Rather almost bumping into him.

“Hey Bendy!” Shawn was someone who warmed up to anything weird pretty quickly. The toon demon was one of them. He had been wary upon meeting the staggering thing but quickly grew to adore him. To Shawn he was like his son.

“Shawn! What are you doing up here? Are you exploring again?”

“Nah. Just trying to find a tool to get a doll unstuck from the machines.”

“A tool?”

“Yea, something to reach up and grab it so that I don't have to lose a limb.”

“Hmm...” Bendy put a finger under his chin in thought. The calm pondering turned tumultuous when Bendy's head tilted to the side and his face tensed inwards. His head tilted down with a frown as his hand moved to frustratingly tap against his head, as if knocking on the door to his inky synapses to wake wake up. Shawn watched intrigued the whole time.

Bendy's finger froze and the frown disappeared. He snapped and pointed to the man. “I can help you.”

Shawn giggled, “Ok.” The demon had thought pretty hard and yet the outcome that? Funny!

“I'll grab it!” The Irishman's face fell.

“Oh no! No no no! I don't want you to hurt your hand!”

“It'll be fiiine! I won't get hurt: I'm fast! See?” The creature moved his spindled arm in a swift motion. The speed could be equated to striking with a curtain pole.

“Alight,” he caved, “Well, let's go, yea? Down to Heavenly Toys we go!”

“To Heavenly Toys!” They called as they mockingly marched down into the lower levels.

 

 

The whining machinery could be heard echoing off the large emporium walls. It wasn't too loud but it was noticeable enough. It was accompanied by rattling metal bits. The sound of tiny sliding wheels and a small chime joined briefly. Both stepped out.

“This room really enhances sound,” Bendy noted and continued, “I think Sammy would do better with a room like this.”

“I wouldn't think so. That man can't get one bar written when there's just a teeny tiny little noise. His room is fine. Besides! This room is cool! I doubt it would look as amazing as this if it were to turn into a recording studio: it would be bland and just plain boring!”

The two reached the factory and the noise quieted in the more confined space.

“The machines jammed,” observed Bendy.

“Yea. Like I said there's a doll wedged inside the thing. I was afraid of taking it out in fear that my arm would become a mess so I went to look for something to get it out.”

“And you found me!” The demon exclaimed.

“Yes! Though, how are you going to do this? Do you have something to get it out with? I didn't see you stop to bring one.”

The lanky demon waved him off. “Already have it.” He walked over to a machine and looked it all over. He could hear that the creaking of gears in this area was much louder, plus the chugging motor. He placed his gloved hand and bony hand onto the bulb of metal sheet and leaned down to look up into the machine.

“Oh,” his voice reverberated, “I see it.” Shawn patiently waited, observing quietly.

Bendy leaned himself back out. He kept his gloved hand on the metal but took his barren one off to move it into the machine's mouth. Concern grew on Shawn's face. He didn't know if he should speak up but the toon looked like he knew what he was doing.

Knobby fingers touched the soft cloth of the doll and then snapped to hold it's visage, which was the only major part sticking out between the crease. “Got it!”

“Atta boy! Atta boy, Bendy!” the Irishman encouraged. Maybe it was alright to let the toon get it out himself. Now he just had to pull it free and the whole thing would be running again.

Bendy's whole body moved with the force of his tugs, grunting lightly with each one. “It. Doesn't. Want. To. Come, ouoooouuuuuu!” Just like that the bang of sheet metal bending into place shocked the atmosphere and then the whirring got even louder with starts, stops, and whining and grinding.

“Bendy!” Shawn ran over and frantically tried to pull Bendy's arm out from the machine which was tugging it back.

“It's got me! It's got me!” A sickening crack and a pop of explosion and then wet slurps and squelches as the machine churned forward. Shawn's harsh tugging nearly made the two fall backwards.

The man flocked to his front to assess his arm. It wasn't really an arm anymore, it was a stump that leaked thick tar.

“Oh no, no, no! Bendy! Are you alright, buddy?!” The demon's frown worsened as he groaned. “It's alright, everything's gonna be alright, Bendy! We just need to get you to the medical ward, and then you'll be right as rain!” Shawn flipped the switch off on the machine and tried to gently lead the injured toon out but the lanky form did not budge. “C'mon Bendy! We gotta get you to a doctor!”

“I'm sorry,” Bendy moped with another groan. His back curled even more in on itself.

“Sorry for what?! You just got your arm crushed!”

Bendy slowly turned his head to the man. “My arm is fine, but because I tried to help, I ruined a lot of your hard work...” Before Shawn could rebut, Bendy's arm melded back into shape which the Irishman made an 'oh' to. He then went over to look at the mess he had inadvertently caused. Shawn followed.

In Bendy's hands the soaked dolls were nothing but lobs of ink. The form rolled wet and gelatinous as his fingers moved it around.

“Can't you clean the ink off of it?” Bendy shook his head.

“No. I would be absorbing the whole thing. It's completely ink now.”

“That's fine. As long as the machine's clean more merch can be made.”

“Actually...” Bendy gathered all the shaped blobs into his arms and waltzed over bowlegged to Shawn's work desk. His head moved aside on his shoulders to spy the desk before plopping the plasmic ink down into a bow that had once held Shawn's soup from lunch. They all stuck together and bobbed in the shallow bowl. The demon placed a hand on it and the fusion shrank until it was a terse puddle.

Upon removing his hand, the puddle sprung up into the singular shape of a Boris plush. Shawn awed at the display.

“There ya go! Your machine is clean, _and_ you have something cool to play with.”

“Thanks Bendy! Oh this is so cool!” Shawn brought himself close to admire it further. He poked it but it didn't leave a mark on his finger. “It's squishy!” Bendy poked it as well.

“It is. You can change what it looks like, too. All you have to do is grab it. Like this:" Bendy's large gloved hand encircled the 'plush' and the form of it released back into the liquid and sprung up as a Bendy plush.

“That's awesome!” Shawn laughed. “Thank you Bendy!”

“You're welcome!”

“Gimme a sec.” Shawn went over to flip on the machine again.

“I'm gonna head out. If you need me, just say my name! I'll hear ya!”

“Leaving so soon? Alright. Thanks again for fixing the machine.”

The ink demon crossed the threshold and saluted. “See ya uncle Shawn!”

“Bye bye!” he waved back enthusiastically.

 

 

Joey wasn't too thrilled about the resources being wasted but found the transforming ink interesting and let Shawn keep it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Unfortunately there will be no double uploads.  
> Lately I've just had an explosion of inspiration and ideas that's going towards a personal fic of mine. The document is too freakin huuuuge.


	4. Sublime Soiree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammy comes to work. Unfortunately there's a huge snow storm and he still has to work. Nice that he gets to still get payed and listen to some beautifully improved music.

Driving in that morning had been god awful. The snow coming down had been blinding, and since the morning was still dark, Sammy had to use his lights which reflected off the falling sheets of white.

Once he reached the studio's parking lot, the musician made sure to park close. However this did not prevent him from being pelted with falling snow and he entered looking part human, part snowman. He huffed and shivered all the way down to his little (invaded) safe-haven. He laid his coat on the floor to dry and went to his desk.

The leather suitcase thumped onto the surface and Sammy flicked open the metal lock. Despite being an insanely creative man, his suitcase didn't reflect this. Most would think the inside would be a complete mess with papers everywhere, a forgotten pencil or two but this was not the case. Instead inside was neat and organized. From what it looked at least. If one were to look through the sheets of music they would be shuffled like a deck of cards. So, in a sense, it was disorderly just neatly so.

From the ream he was able to quickly pick out the few sheets that he needed. It was just for one song but it was dispersed throughout and not together like how any other normal person would store it.

The clock rolled on as he looked it over, tweaked a couple thing, and reworked and added some parts. Sammy's eyes flicked up to the time. It was 9 am. He looked in the direction of the entrance.

'Mark is unusually late... he should've been here by now...,' Sammy thought. The only person who he had heard so far was Wally's meandering footsteps visiting their usual spots: the waste baskets. He continued nonetheless but hindered somewhat by the niggling concern of absent employees.

He had been more concerned when it was 10 but it was now 11. _11 am_. No one had arrived.

“Where the hell is everyone!” Sammy whispered through gritted teeth as he marched out into the band room and out.

In the lobby to the music department Sammy found Wally. The janitor was currently high up on a ladder working on patching an inky leak, a bucket on the floor.

“Is it just me, or is it offly quiet around here? Is there something going on?”

Wally sighed and used this opportunity to return the blood to his arms. “Have you tried turning on the radio?” He quickly thought. “Do you even _have_ a radio?”

“No, that's in my office. I came from my sanctuary.”

“Well it turns out, Mr. Lawrence, that the blizzard this early morning has covered the roads. No one can get out and it's still snowing.”

“So we don't have work today?”

Wally glanced to the side before meeting the musician's again. “Uhhh, no. We still do.”

“What?!” Sammy grew furious.

“Hey! Don't point your anger at me, bring it to Joey! He's the one who said so.”

Sammy stormed off on a war path, “ _Oh_ I have quite some colorful language I would like to share with him!”

“You go do that...,” Wally muttered at the empty space before him.

 

 

The door slammed open. Joey startled and fumbled his pencil.

“Joey!”

Said man formed a patient, weary smile on his face. “Yes, Sammy?”

“Wally told me that you still have us working, is that true?!” Sammy jabbed a finger behind his back.

“Yes, that is true. Good day to you too, by the way”

Sammy grew even angrier. “How do you expect me to work with no band Drew?! I need them to make sure the piece fits together nicely! -and I can't even do that!”

The boss shrugged his arms and turned away in his seat. “Work with it! I don't know- why don't you start on a new piece or something? Brush up on your playing? As long as you're productive I don't care. We must push on for this dream, Lawrence, we can't let a blizzard get in the way of that.”

“I say there won't be a dream if you keep pushing like this.” Sammy left without letting Joey put another word in.

 

 

Instead of the suitcase, it was Sammy who slammed down but into his chair. He was brooding about being “stuck in a god forsaken hell hole of a studio”. The man swore this place went downhill ever since Henry died. Poor man. He died in this place animating _his_ dream that Joey claimed as his own. Joey stole everything.

He racked his brain on what he could possibly work on but came up with nothing. He had done all that was needed to be done until _his band was present_.

Then he got an idea. Being mad at Joey had sparked a breed of inspiration. Being a man of music, he was going to create a _wonderful_ piece that could be easily sung and remembered lovingly by every employee.

It began with the title, the fountain pen sharply moving: What I Wouldn't Do To Not Work For Joey Drew. It was going to be a masterpiece; his best work yet.

 

 

Few hours went by of Sammy's furious writing. It was the only noise in the room with metal friction against paper covered wood. A few keys rung out and it snapped Sammy out from his revengeful musings. The notes were test-y until it stopped.

The musician's face crumpled in confusion. 'Who the hell is that?' he thought. More notes picked up but this time a song was playing. A song he hadn't heard before. 'Did someone...,' he wondered as he went to peer out of his sanctuary.

The notes continued in lighthearted succession and Sammy's eyes widened at who was creating such noise. Despite the toon's differing sizes of hands and amount of fingers, Bendy was playing just fine. Excellently, in fact.

Sammy despised the creature. The thing had proven the religion the man tried to escape from just by existing. The reason why he worked here was to mock that community of people by creating masterpieces for a blasphemous devil. Plus the devil's existence further imbibed his mind with Bendy which he was trying to shake off.

And now said devil was playing the most beautiful music Sammy has ever heard in his entire life and he didn't know what to think. The song seemed to last forever and it had the musician in a trance.

The song eventually came to an end, too soon of an end in Sammy's opinion.

“That was...,” Bendy turned his head to him, “that was... wow.” He couldn't say much more.

“Thanks,” Bendy simply said. “Do you want me to play more?”

Sammy's body responded before his mouth could. He was nodding. “Please do.” The rest of the time was spent listening to endless pieces of improvisation that would normally take Sammy some time to chisel out. If he were to think about the situation, he would realize that he's being payed by the hour from Joey Drew not to do work but to listen to Bendy's talent; a paid show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making fuckin' [Bendy fanfiction] and NOBODY CAN STOP ME!
> 
> aka: I'm gonna write more chapters for this instead of taking the time to finish the other- I am gonna do it!


	5. A New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris is here! Fresh from the toon world he wanders around the studio to get acquainted with everything and everyone.

So far Boris had been left to himself to explore all the studio had to offer. What he found amusing was that the studio went _down_ not up. He supposed it wasn't the best of choices but it was cool.

He had been introduced to the working staff with Joey's heavy hand landing on his shoulder and the announcement of “This is Boris the Wolf! He will be with us for now on!” What followed were smiles and greetings. Nothing more nothing less.

What Boris found annoying was that he wasn't even given a tour. Or a guide; a map. He was left with the poor labels and directory signs. There were so many unmarked doors and this place was a maze. The only solution? Boris supposed he would have to travel throughout, opening any and all doors he could and traveling through every corridor he came across.

There were less and less people as the building went down so no one could tell Boris where not to go.

Eventually he happened upon a door that was heavily decorated in ink designs. It labeled the room as “Bendy's Room” and the text was printed in place of Bendy's face, the black of the head and horns surrounding it. Around the label, however was a bunch of everything. From drawings of flowers sprouting up from the bottom of the door in a patch of grass to the sun raining it's bright rays from the top. There were multiple iterations of Bendy and Boris himself plus the creator doing multiple different things floating about the rest of it.

'Bendy's here...,' Boris thought and smiled. Without thinking he carefully cracked open the door. He peeked in and froze as a wave of _something bad_ filled his heart _._

Bendy- he guessed it was supposed to be Bendy with the grinning mouth and familiar head shape and bow tie- was sitting up against his bed, legs stretched out and back hunched over with his arms crossed in front of him. The demon's head turned to him. His arms uncrossed as his mouth grinned further with his mouth opening.

Boris booked it. That _isn't_ Bendy- it _couldn't_ be! The mangled form and that horrid feeling. Three loud bangs of a scuffle sounded out after three fleeting steps of the wolf.

“Wait- Boris!” Boris didn't wait, he kept running. “Where are you going?!”

'Away!' the wolf's mind screamed in answer. He had to find some place to hide quick. From what he could hear Bendy was far off, though he had little time to ponder if he wanted to hide in time.

He dove behind some stacked boxes and waited. His chest was heaving and it was making noise. He tried to quiet himself down but it seemed like he couldn't in the moment, no matter how hard he tried.

Boris' ear twitched when the thud of a heartbeat sounded next to him. The frightful feeling that had gripped his heart came back in a strong wave. He yipped and turned in its direction.

There was a puddle growing from the side of the box and out from it was Bendy's head.

“Oh! Are we playing hide and seek?” Boris scooted back because his feet kept slipping on the floorboards. He was poised to bolt at any moment, any movement, but there was nothing.

The demon hadn't moved at all and just stared, waiting for the wolf to answer him. His head slightly tilted which made Boris almost flinch.

“N-no?” He answered.

The inky toon's smile straitened out. “No? Then... is it tag?”

Boris felt more emboldened from the demon's innocently curious demeanor and decided to be honest. “No, I wasn't playing anything. I was just spooked.” Bendy moved his head up in thought.

“Yea... I think someone said I give off this awful feeling that makes people scared. Everyone seems used to it now but can still tell when I enter a room; makes it hard for me to escape being grounded.”

The non-existent muscles in the toon wolf's inky frame relaxed as he realized that Bendy... was still Bendy. Nothing had really changed besides his body. He smirked.

“Grounded?”

Bendy sighed dramatically with a frown and drooped more out from the portal. “Yeeaaa... Joey grounds me often and I don't know why. I don't do anything wrong- at least I try not to. At least I'm still able to play.”

“Are you grounded right now?” Bendy stiffened and stared at Boris. A smile slowly crept onto the wolf's face.

“Yes.” The response was solid and terse.

The toon wolf looked around and used his ears to hear if anyone was around. There was no one.

“We could play a game? I've been exploring the studio and there's barely any people on the floor above us so I think any noise that we make will be unheard.”

Bendy beamed at the offer and fully crawled out from the portal. It swirled away into nothing.

“Yes! We can play tag up here or we can go to the next floor down and play hide and seek? Oh! Or we could play the carnival games down there!”

Boris' ears perked in interest. “There's carnival games?”

There were a few ungraceful thumps of fumbling limbs and Bendy was standing up. “Yea! C'mon, I'll show you!” Boris took Bendy's offered gloved hand. The toon demon's excitement flowed into him and they both rushed down the stairs.

They had freaked out Bertrum and Lacie bursting into the room but hadn't caused much trouble playing games. Until Boris climbed a shelf and knocked it over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boris is a good boy. Also toss me a bone, I love comments!


	6. Daddy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The animation staff are curious about Bendy's drawings. Where does he put them? Does he give them to somebody special?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be posted yesterday but I didn't have time to beta it. Right now I do and I just beta'ed it. Not much changed but 1 important thing was added (love you!).

The animation department had become quieter and quieter as years pressed on. The amount of work being forced unto them didn't allow for any and all play and thus left interesting employees dull. There was at one time a floor full of chatter, the young ones participating in throwing in their piece of mind. Lots of laughter after such. Now nothing. Or barely anything. The addition of the ink demon didn't spur any such conversation either, there was too much work- especially after wasting so much time fearing the creature instead of doing work.

But Bendy seemed to spend most of his time there so they all got used to his presence. Got used to him too. A lot of them started seeing the mangled thing as an innocent child, which Bendy practically was.

When asked why he liked hanging around them, Bendy responded by saying it was the most comfortable place in the studio. It was also the most entertaining place besides the music department. After all, he got to draw a ton!

As the animators worked at their stations, Bendy was lied out on the floor, feet lazily swinging in the air as he drew onto one of the many sheets of paper given to him.

Hunter Sullivan, a background artist, set down his brush carefully and stretched back in his chair, effectively able to turn his head and see what the demon was drawing.

“What are ya drawing now?” he asked within the quiet walls of the room filled with everyone's breathing and scratches of writing.

Bendy moved the paper so that Hunter could see it better; presenting the image. Though Bendy may be masterful at playing instruments, that mastery apparently didn't extend towards his drawings. They weren't the best but they were mediocre.

“I'm drawing dad and me playing in the ink.” The artist grinned. The thought that ink was equivalent to grass in the bony toon's mind was quite funny.

“Hey, Bendy?” Arthur O'brien, an inker, piped in.

“Hm?”

“I was wondering if uh, where do you keep all those drawing that you make? Do you give them to someone?”

“Yea, I was thinking the same thing,” Susan Morris, another inker, added.

“They're for daddy,” the ink demon responded chipper.

“Ahhh... that makes sense. You love your dad, don't you Bendy?” Hunter said.

“Yes! I love him very, very, very much!” His head bobbed joyfully. Hunter smiled in return. They all got back to their work.

 

 

The last paper flipped and slammed onto a tall stack of unstraightened, acme punched paper. Francis Ortiz, an animator, groaned from his chair and lifted the stack into his arms.

“Alright! I'm taking this to the boss!” He called.

“You do that,” Walter Soto, another animator said, not looking up from his stills.

The frizz haired man carried the paper all the way to Joey's office. He was glad this office was still his boss' main one as he heard from several of the employees down in the lower levels that the man of dreams was planning on having his official office way down below. No way he was he going to carry stacks of stills all the way down, only to bring them back up again to put them through the projector in negative*.

Honestly Wally spewed some wise words from time to time.

With his hands full, he couldn't really knock so he used his forehead instead. This was a common thing to see in the first level. Several seconds later the door opened and then was held wide as Joey stepped aside.

“Come on through, Ortiz,” Joey said. Hunter placed the stack down onto Joey's desk before attempting to speak.

“This is the next set of stills, Mr. Drew.”

“Good, good! I was worried they were going to be a little late.”

“Yea well...” Francis decided to keep his thoughts about Joey's work ethic to himself.

“Give me a sec as I look them over.”

“Sure thing.” Francis was familiar with his boss' office. He was normally the one to take the products to Joey besides Carole Jean, a helpful inker who would occasionally bring in food for any of the staff to eat. In fact he was pretty sure she saved a lot of people from starvation.

In the time that Bendy had come to exist he had never once seen anything new pop up in Joey's office besides some questionable books. And the demon had said he gave his drawings to his dad. Was Joey storing them somewhere? Throwing them away?

Francis frowned. Shouldn't a good dad be displaying proudly his son's work? He knew he would.

“Aren't you going to put up one of Bendy's drawings?” he broke the silence.

“Huh?” Joey was thrown off.

“Bendy's drawings? The ones he gives you? He said he gives them to you after he's done.”

Joey looked around in thought then back to him, head shaking. “No... no I never got anything from him. Besides a few things he finds occasionally.”

“Does Bendy see you as a father figure?”

“I think. He does refer to me as 'uncle' but he calls all the other male staff that too.”

“Huh...”

“Well I finished looking through this,” he thumped the top twice with his hand, “Looks good. Keep up the good work. Call me when you have the negative film ready.”

“Ok. See ya later then, Drew.” The walk back had Francis thinking deeply. He dropped off the stack to Norman on the way. He was the projectionist after all. Not many job positions being created anymore.

The animator sat down heavily into his hard wooden chair with a thoughtful, troubled face.

“Something went wrong?” Harold Fisher, a fellow animator, asked.

“Nah, nah. Just confused.”

“About?” Harold inquired.

“You know how Bendy said that he gives his drawings to his dad?” Harold hummed the affirmative. “Apparently Joey isn't his dad.”

“No?” Harold's face grew to mirror Francis'.

“No.” The conversation was holding everyone in the room's attention, even Juviks Lloyd, a foreign background artist who was still learning English. A contemplative silence spread through the room.

“We should ask him,” suggested Carole.

 

 

They all chose to wait until Bendy came in to doodle again which didn't take much time at all. As soon as the towering toon lumbered in, tension immediately caked itself on, though the toon didn't sense it. Instead, he went to his dedicated corner to grab his supplies and begin doodling as he sat.

Juviks, old enough to not care much for any matter anymore, spoke up first. “Bendy,” the toon hummed, still drawing, “You said you have a uh, father... figure, yes?”

Bendy's head bobbed up and down, “Yeees?”

“Is it not Joey?”

“Joey?! No, silly artist man! Joey isn't my dad! He just contributed to my design!”

“Then who do you... take- _give_ your drawings to? Can we meet him?”

Bendy sat up to ponder, pulling away from his work. He hummed a little. “He hasn't come back in a long time...” The demon's slight grin downturned with grief.

“O-oh...” Susan muttered. A stretch of silence trailed through. Bendy was looking at his paper in consideration of continuing.

Arthur spoke up starting with an enlightened exclamation. “Aha! Maybe instead of just storing those drawings, how about you put them up? So when your dad _does_ come back he'll be able to see them! We'd also like to see them. Plus I think your drawings would make the place look much nicer. I-if you want to, of course!”

The frown once again flipped to a wide smile. “That sounds like a great idea! I'mma put them up right away! … After I finish this one.” The team smiled fondly at the toon as he went on coloring the new and upcoming piece.

Bendy soon left with his new drawing through one of his summoned ink portals and the animators were forced to continue slaving at their work.

When it came time to leave, Harold Fisher was always the first to do so and was therefore able to spot all the drawings first. Or lack thereof as the corner walls in front of him were covered in blank sheets of paper. His eyes widened when he realized they were all centered around a dead man's old abandoned desk: Henry's. He hoped the toon never saw that old newspaper.

 

 

He has seen all that there was to see, has experienced as much as this place would allow. But every now and again Henry would find something new, though very small.

This time he was fooling around with his modified light box when he found the drawings. What he thought many loops before as just blank pages were actually written on. In bright gold-shimmering ink were pictures upon pictures of mundane things. He knew he didn't draw these.

A lot of the pictures featured what he surmised was himself as a cartoon usually hanging out with Bendy in some way shape or form. The ones where he wasn't included had Bendy in his notorious form just before his transforming at The End. However there were messages written on them and some letters on their own paper were directed to him. They detailed such things as:

“I made a song today with Sammy and Jack. I named it after you: “Henry's Boogie”. I can play it for you when you come back!”

“Susie brought in a plant. I've never seen one before! It's so colorful and pretty. You probably have seen tons of pretty plants out there when you were away! What are they like?”

“Boris was created today! He's super nice, just like your version of him! There's a lot less bacon soup now, though.”

“Joey yelled at me today. Good thing Boris gives good hugs! I think he inherited that from you.”

“I miss you!”

“Sammy has been acting differently. When you come back you'll find he's much nicer!”

“I hear there's a new character in the works! She's an angel and she can sing, but I bet she can't hold a candle to you. I miss your humming.”

“Joey grounded me to my room again. I played with the dolls Shawn made. We went to the jungle and you saved me from the rushing river by awesomely swinging from a tree vine! When are you coming back?”

“I got to see the new room Joey had constructed today! It's super huge and it looks just like the ink machine but bigger and you can go inside! I bet your singing would sound amazing with the acoustics!”

“Just want you to know that I love you no matter what Dad!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *negative: not sure if this is the actual term but it's when paper stills are projected but the white of the paper and black of the graphite/lead/charcoal get switched- so essentially just think of how the animated Bendy looks in the projector room from chapter one (black background with white lines).
> 
> Henry's Boogie is a legit song on youtube. It's a ragtime piano piece. There's no lyrics to it (I don't believe) but in this fic there is.
> 
> If anyone was confused or wondering, Bendy remembers when he was actively being animated and the events in the cartoon once it was done. Not anymore though now that he's in the real world. Thought I should point this out here as I tend to have aspects hinted using a word or two.


	7. Time Given

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The animators aren't doing so well. Bendy thinks they deserve a vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm really depressed right now. I need clear cel sheets for my animation but it costs $70 for a thing of 100. I need way more than that. I could get an acme hole punch but that's $100-300 for some weird reason and then thin plastic sheets. I'll get by though... It's going to be finished.

A joke was a joke but sometimes it wasn't always funny. Sometimes it could be sad because it was true. Bendy had heard these kinds of jokes all around the studio about many different kinds of things and they were increasing in number. He didn't think these were jokes.

If they were then animation was the brunt of all of them. Everyone seemed to have a sense of what it entailed and the animators themselves just had more knowledge and experience with the subject to create more "jokes".

It was sad. Bendy had to watch as the animators grew more and more withered. He tried to have them play from time to time and to have a break, but they wouldn't budge.

"What's on your mind, kid?"

Norman's voice cut through the demon's pondering. They were sitting in the proscenium box, or the crows nest, of the band room.

The demon leaned forward to the point where his shoulders were almost touching his knees. He sighed. "Just thinking about how sad and tired the animators look. I used to play with them but now they don't want to. They always say they have work to do and that they don't have time."

The projectionist sighed in sympathy for both the toon and the poor animators above. "God knows those animators are the back bone of this company. Joey just doesn't know what he's got."

Bendy grumbled and said, "Well Joey should give them a break! They deserve it."

"Then how're we supposed to earn a paycheck? This company runs off the sales the episodes earn and that only lasts so long," refuted Norman.

"Oh yea the money thing... important or something. But won't the animators work faster after they've been given a break?"

Norman couldn't say anything to express his thought. Instead all he did was wave a hand up in almost a shrugging or presenting motion.

"That settles it!" Bendy concluded, "I'm going to talk to Joey!"

The projectionist's eyebrows rose. "Wow you must be really angry at him! You haven't spoken against him like this before."

"Just because Joey is co-creator doesn't mean he can't make mistakes. And you are all my family and I love and care for you all which is why this needs to be done."

Norman wore a weak smile. "You can try talking to him, just don't expect much, ok?"

"Ok! See ya later Uncle Film-man!" He ran down the stairs.

 

 

Joey's office was below several floors and was relatively secluded from all the bustling noise of workers. He didn't like not knowing if people were doing their job or slacking but he definitely loved the quiet and grand space to himself. Plus he could trust his employees to do their work, after all the amount finished by a deadline determined their given pay which was a lovely motivator.

A dream of keeping a job and being able to earn a cent, Joey would say.

Since it was so quiet, Joey was able to familiarize himself with some of the common footfalls of the staff. Bendy's was by far the most common and he could tell the demon was coming from a mile away, no less.

The footfalls were uneven In every sense. They didn't come down rhythmically in step like a metronome and were of three beats, not two. One beat was solid but the other two were wet but all were of different sound. In the end it sounded like: clack... ... suck- splat!, clack... ... suck- splat!

The man sighed but continued to look through the fresh paper stills. Bendy's "grand" entrance blew a few paper's corners.

"Heya, Uncle Joey! I need to talk to you about something I think is important."

"Mhmm...," murmured Joey.

"I've noticed that the animators have slowed down a lot-," Joey ignored this seeing as all deadlines seemed to all be met, "and are looking a mighty bit tired. Well, not really a bit, more like a ton! They look dead Joey! It's so sad! They used to be relatively happy and now they're not at all. They won't even play with me anymore!"

"Mhmm..."

"So!" Bendy brought his outstretched arms to himself to press his hands together in offer, "To help them, I suggest we give them a vacation of sorts!"

"No." The response came like a bullet and Joey still wasn't even looking at him. He was still flipping through the stills like talking about this important matter wasn't important at all.

Bendy felt this need to fight back. He'd been feeling this for a while now.

"Wait-wait-wait! Just hear me out!"

" _No_ ."

"Giving them a vacation would  _help_ them! They'll be faster when they come back!- And happier-!"

"I said  _no_ !" Joey finally turned his attention to him with a glare. The toon immediately clammed up and recoiled.

Joey sighed. If he'd learn anything from past arguments, Bendy needed a valid reason why otherwise he'd keep coming back.

"Bendy, paying my employees is already hard as it is. I can't afford to give them a vacation on all fronts. They're the most integral part of this studio and they're a big part as to why I'm still able to give everyone a paycheck. If they go, the new labor act will be on my ass and that means we won't have a place to go and work- and for you that means no home. Plus, how will my employees have a vacation when they're unable to pay for a simple banana on their second day?"

The demon looked down and fidgeted with his hands, at a loss of what to do.

Joey turned back to the stack of papers. "Now go to your room. You've bothered me enough for today."

Bendy nodded and headed sullenly back to the door he had come through.

"Bye Joey...," he said slipping through the threshold. The boss himself was already busying himself with work.

  
  


The demon made his way through hallways with a stewing mind. His head felt hot and sticky, hallow and cascading.

He'd allow bygones be buy bonds-  _bygones_ but this war inside his head wasn't letting up. He wanted to fight back, he needed to for the good of the people.

_Ba-_

Joey wasn't helping. He was the enemy. He was the reason to why their income was low. After all, Uncle Grant said so. Said he spent too much on new floors, a big park to be built, more  _useless_ items and props.

_Ba-du_

Yes, Joey is the problem. He needs to be  _gone_ .

_Ba-dum_

He yells at everyone and treats them like dirt. He yells at  _him_ . Joey doesn't love him, he hates him!

_**Ba-dum** _

_I hate him!_

Bendy gasps and stops in the last stretch of hallway. It was dark and his own heartbeat pounded around him.

"No-no-no!" he whispered hurriedly to himself, "I don't hate him! I-I love him! Uh-  _like_ him..." He started to shamble forward to complete the trek to his room.

"And he loves me, why wouldn't he? He brought me to life and he gave me lots of things! Maybe he's just really stressed right now. Yea. Yea... Everyone is stressed and that's ok." He stepped into his room and silently closed the door with a shaking hand.

He sat down on his bed and grasped at the sheets to stabilize himself. His heartbeat along with his veins of ink had receded but were still imprinted on the back of his mind.

However the demon still felt shaky. He swooped an arm around a couple dolls that were already crowding his bed from when he was playing earlier that day and slumped himself close to onto his back, his spines preventing him from lying completely flat. He pulled the dolls close and brought up his knees.

"What should I do Ms. Ursa?" He whispered to one of the dolls. The brown and frankly worn down bear stared back with scratched button eyes.

"Joey says he can't do anything to help. I know he would if he could. But there has so be a way."

Another doll shifted in his hold. It was a green snake with a missing eye.

"I think that might work, September Guy, but I don't think a lot of the other people can draw." His head turned to another doll, a white horned bug with black eyes.

" _Me_ ?" There was a pause. "But that might take a while." He turned to listen to Ms. Ursa.

"Yea! Ok! Thanks you guys!" He bounded up from his bed with a startling new energy which caused all the dolls to bounce, some falling to the floor.

The items on his desk were quickly shoved to the side to make way for the ink that bubbled up from the polished wood. It quickly swirled into the familiar shape of his portals and he sunk his arm into it, digging around.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, holding up some acme cels and putting the stack to the side.

"Now I just gotta find all the other some-odd things..." he muttered.

In the end his room and- now- table were filled with all the supplies he needed. It was a lot for his tiny room but Bendy could easily work with it.  
  


 

The studio was silent. The work day had ended. With everyone gone Wally could truly live up to his job title: being the janitor. No one was in the way and everyone was gone (except for a stray animator but they eventually left). Even Joey was gone. But there were expectations for the next day.

Wally could whistle to his heart's delight. He would usually get yelled to shut it during the day. He mopped the floors to the tune which made him work a lot faster.

Today was mopping day after all. Joey was going to have to either pay him more or hire another janitor if he wanted all the floors cleaned by morning.

It was a secret, though, that Wally never completely mopped up the floors, only cleaning the common walkways and the occasional dusty patch. He didn't have to worry about ink splatter anymore so his job went on a lot more happier.

He was now on the lower floors, a.k.a. the least traversed parts of the studio. However the common walkways were still common and Joey would for sure yell at him if there was no shine to bring him a migraine. The janitor swore there was at least something stuck up his boss' ass.

His whistling tune intertwined with another's and he instantly recognized who's it was. He peered down the hall to Bendy's bedroom door.

'Odd,' he thought, 'usually there's no noise at this time- or he's sleeping or somethin'...'

He went over to check it out. As he was coming closer he could hear a lot of what sounded like moving plastic sheets under the sound of the demon's tune.

He knocked on the door. The noise continued.

"Bendy?" He waited but nothing still. He got curious. "Bendy, I'm comin' in!" He waited just enough for a response and opened the door.

What could be first described seeing was  _motion_ . There was a lot of it. There were too many arms and hands. They were sprouted out from everywhere.

Some were working on paper, holding up said paper, some flipping through inked cels, others inking cels. Bendy was flipping through a stack of cels as well and working on them.

"Whoah..." Instantly the buzzing noise of work stopped. The toon was looking at him with a blank stare. Wally supposed he walked in on something meant to be private.

"U-uh," he sputtered, "Sorry- I heard some noise and I came to check up on you, I knocked but you didn't answer so..."

Slowly Bendy held up a single finger to his gradually grinning mouth and 'shh'ed at him, smile vibrating.

Wally didn't know how to take this. Yes, Bendy was undoubtedly one of the nicest beings he's ever got to befriend but he'd be damned if the toon devil couldn't be downright unsettling. He knew what Tom said about the whole "aura" thing and he knew it played its role sometimes.

"Don't tell anyone," the demon whispered, holding up a copy of the second half of the planned story board. The grin piqued up into a giddy expression.

The tension instantly washed away from Wally's mind like it had never happened. He smirked. "Your secret's safe with me! Though, I'd suggest you try and keep the noise down unless you want your plan blown but you can still whistle."

Bendy laughed and clapped, glad someone was on board with his idea. "Thanks Uncle Wally!"

"No problem, kid. Imma be leavin' in a bit here so good night! Good luck on finishing the animation."

"Good night!" the demon called as Wally sent him one last smile before shutting the door and walking back to his mop.

He swung to Bendy's upstarted tune, and when he passed by to mop the floor no other noise could be heard besides that.

  
  


The next morning the animators were met with a startling lack of work left on their desks. Instead there was only a film reel. When inspected was no label but it was definitely new. The animators looked to one another and headed to the showing room.

The reel was hooked up and the projector rolled. They watched with their eyes widening.

They couldn't believe it. On the film reel... was the other half of the episode. Completed.

There was deep silence. And then pure elation.

There were cries of joy. Tears shed. Hugging and patting abound. Bright smiles all around.

One of the animators ran down to Joey's office, holding the reel up like it was the Olympic torch and whooping all the way. They burst into Joey's office and shoved it in his face.

Joey couldn't believe it. "This is... the  _other half_ of the episode?"

The animator nodded frantically with intersperses of "Yea, yea, uhuh!"

Joey stared at them and then his eyes averted to the movement behind them. Bendy was poking through the door and ink bled out from his finger to form the word "vacation" on the door in pretty, neat, and crisp cursive.

Joey steeled his jaw, turned to the animator and said, "Well congrats. A whole week payed vacation. Let the rest of the animation department know." The animator practically fainted on their feet and wept openly, muttering happily about the payed vacation as they stumbled out the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Film-man, Nor-man. Same thing, really.
> 
> Haven't updated in a while and I'm sorry for that. I am no longer depressed as the beginning note expresses. The Tick helped me with that (shameless plug! Go watch it- cartoon or amazon show- they're both good!


	8. A Faint Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the sewers, Jack hears Bendy, sobbing from another one of Joey's fights, and having escaped as far as he could into the studio's sewers. The only solution Jack's got it some heavy blankets and some good ol' wisdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Slight angst but it gets better.

The door slammed and the demon sped through a portal. He had to get away. He didn't want to hear it anymore.

Bendy didn't know where he was going but he was for sure not going to his room. Tears streaked down his face but were indecipherable from the other constantly running lines of ink. The only way one could tell was the loud, short-stopped breaths and hiccuping.

He blindly turned down hallways and rounded corners only to fall back into another portal that lead to somewhere else further away. Drooping, viscous strings of ink connecting the entrance and exit portals before they all faded away.

Eventually Bendy stopped. It was cold and the ground was pooled with ink. He crouched and wept.

Sound in tunnels rung on for a long ways and the sound of weeping even more so. Jack turned in his chair. He had heard a whoosh and then a few splashes then weeping and the sound of wet breathing.

That wasn't good. The lyricist furrowed his brow with a concerned but curious look and brought himself out of his chair. He stepped into the ink and waded through towards the noise.

When Jack saw Bendy he was already curled away from him. His skeletal frame shook with each sob. He's never seen the toon cry before.

"Hey, uh, Bendy? Why are ya crying? What wrong?"

The toon's head slightly lifted turned a little so that Jack saw his frown plastered deep. “Juh-Joey yyyelled at- at- at me!- me!” he sobbed.

Jack made a quick decision. His little cove in the sewers wasn't the most coziest place to be but it would do for now. He wanted to get close to the tune but the bars to the other tunnel prevented him.

“C'mon Bendy. Let's go to my desk. See what I can do to help make you feel better.” He held out a hand for the toon to take. The demon stared at it for a moment and slowly pushed himself to stand. He was slouching more than usual.

Bendy took the lyricist's hand and was led to phase through the metal bars and glide along the ink all the way to Jack's desk.

They stepped up into the little cove and Jack let go to rummage around his meager but packed things.

“Let's get you all nice and comfy here,” he muttered as he pulled out a couple thick blankets. They helped when the sewers decided to be particularly cold sometimes.

They were placed over the sitting demon with care and Jack sat down next to him. He had also gotten a pencil and some paper in case Bendy wanted to do something therapeutic. He knew how much the toon loved to draw.

“I got stuff for you to draw just in case. It's not much but do you need anything else?”

There was a pause in which Bendy didn't move but then there was a minuscule shake of the head.

“Alright...,” the man sighed out. He relaxed himself and brought up a hand to soothe Bendy's ribbed back. The spines made it almost impossible to do calming circles but he made do with what he could.

It was quiet save for the sound of flowing ink amplified by the sewer walls. The two were left to themselves, saying nothing. The toon demon's hiccuping sobs and cries wallowed throughout and ink was steadily pouring from his chin and down into the river.

“I- I didn't...- do anything- thing wrong,” Bendy said. Jack lifted his head up to listen.

“But- but!-- Joey... guh...- Joey doesn't even _like_ me!” He let of a loud sob and covered his face.

The lyricist continued to soothe the demon's back. “How is that?” he guided.

Bendy turned his face out of his hands to look at Jack, frown moving like wobbly piano keys.

“He said I was- was a mist-mist-m-m- mistake and that--,” he gulped some air, “I was- I was a monster and not- not perfect at all! I'm not perfect! I want to be guh- good for Joey buu- but he keeps...- keeps pushing me away!”

The circles stopped and Jack leaned closer.

“First thing: no one's perfect. Not me, not Joey, not anybody. There will always be something someone doesn't like and that's ok.”

Bendy calmed, trying to take this wise advice in through an emotion muddled mind. However, insecurities and negative thoughts alike continued to bubble up throughout his mind.

“Now, what makes you think that you're a monster?” Bendy looked back down and evened himself out so that he could talk at least a little more clearly.

“Joey said I am-.”

“Who cares what Joey says.”

“But-”

“ _Are_ you a monster?”

They were looking at each other again.

“N-no?” was said quietly.

“And are you a mistake?”

This one took more time to answer but Jack gave the toon a look.

“No.”

“Then why are you getting upset?” he chuckled, “If you know it isn't true, why be upset?” he smiled and giggled to lighten the mood. Honestly, it was ridiculous. The devil laughed a little too and sniffled.

Their laughter heightened as Jack guessed that Bendy had realized- at least in an unconscious sense- how irrational he was being. It died down with relieved sighs.

The man roughed the demon's arm. “Don't let Joey get to ya, Bendy. He can be a tough man to have to deal with but you just gotta pull though. And if you feel that something he says strikes you the wrong way, feel free to come to me and we can figure it out together. Or you can ask anybody else for help, too, if you feel more comfortable going to them.”

Bendy let out a compressed whistle sound before hugging the man to his ribbed chest. “You're the best, Uncle Jack! I feel a lot better now!”

“Hey, hey! It wasn't much but I'm glad it helped,” he said patting the demon's back, hugging him in return before they parted.

“You helped a lot!” Bendy insisted.

The lyricist laughed it off and stood to pick up some papers off his desk before sitting back down.

“Now get comfy, you. After that emotional roller coaster I think you need some rest. Start yourself fresh once you wake up again.”

The devil complied and situated himself so that he was lying with the blankets wrapped around him. He didn't need to sleep but he found it felt nice and helped pass the time. It had many benefits really, but again it wasn't a necessity.

“I'm going to sing you the piece I've been workin' on. It's calm so it should suffice.” He leaned in and laughed a little saying, “Let's hope my singing is as close to decent as my whistling is.”

Bendy smiled and knew he wouldn't have mind it either way.

It turns out Jack's voice was alright. The man wasn't trained as a singer but the notes were close in range and the he new the correct notes in which to sing a word in. It had a soul to it.

The demon drifted off comparing the soul in Jack's performance to that of the soul in the animations Henry had made of him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is a slight pun: Faint --> Fain.
> 
> I hope this information helped anyone reading this. I think this kind of advice is important for everyone to know. I was called names as a kid and got upset over it. My mother was the one to help me through it. BUT you should still consider the opinions of others before you brush it off! Just don't take it to heart is all.


	9. Conceive and Create

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertrum needs to make his mark in amusement park history.

It had to be precise, it had to be intricate. Any error was unacceptable- to him and to his superior. It had to be unique in that only by coming to _this_ park would you experience something quite like it and nowhere else could it be found.

They all had to be able to work, though. It was a minor inconvenience but he could revise the idea. Make it better and hope it would be appealing.

Bertrum grumbled and quickly flipped his pencil around to rub the graphite line out of existence. He huffed and slammed his pencil down. The frustration plus the adage of supervision made him antsy and temperamental. He tried to keep his cool, however.

“Would you _please_ leave me? It's already frustrating knowing Drew is looking over my shoulder every second, I don't need you doing the same.”

Bendy's head lifted up from lying on the large table the inventor was currently using. Instead of getting up, like Bertrum had hoped, the demon merely shifted his resting forearms closer to himself to laze his head upon them. The neutral, ever-present grin drooped lazily.

“Why don't you take a break?” the toon suggested.

“I can't. I have to focus on making this park the absolute best in history! It has to be recognized!” the man gestured dramatically.

Bendy had barely moved but tilted his head up more to see the now standing man. Bertrum sat back down and deflated. He quickly recovered and got back to holding his pencil and staring at yet the same plan he had been working on for the past hour now.

It was inspiring the determination some of the people had in this studio. It seemed no matter what was thrown at them they faced it like a bull. The demon pondered to himself, looking at Bertrum.

“You're not happy.” It wasn't an argument, it was simply a fact. Bendy found it was good to be blunt, had to be if he wanted someone to at least look at him and talk nowadays.

Bertrum did look at him. For a bit. “Yes,” he breathed out, like the confession brought a good amount of weight off his shoulders.

“Why?”

The question was sincere. That and the calm, innocence of the question made him relax.

“It's just... everything that I create isn't good enough. Nothing is for Mr. Drew. I have these _visions_ that would make the masses _swoon_ and _awe_ at the mere prospect of it becoming _real_ but they're _nothing_. Absolutely nothing in Drew's eyes without some sort of overly-used design on each and every single _one_.” He breathed out from the buildup and leaned back from the table, fingers lightly trailing the surface.

“Why not make something that _you_ like?” Bendy asked.

Bertrum shook his head. “I've tried. Can't.”

“Well _I_ would like to see this 'vision' you have. It sounds awesome!” Then he hummed.

“I'm glad _you_ think so. You'd make a better boss than Joey,” Bertrum chuckled.

“Maybe. I'd still have to learn what's so important about money but since Uncle Joey doesn't understand it I think I'll be fine.”

The man laughed heartily at the little, oblivious jab.

“So, what would you like to make?” the demon sprung after the man had calmed down.

“I already told you, Bendy, I'm not able to do it.”

The laziness that had been present within Bendy's form melted away. He moved his arms so that his hands rested on the edge of the table.

“Dreams come true,” he leaned forward, “if you make an effort to let them.”

The offer was tempting. It was true, Bertrum did want to have something that would at least have his mark, something to give him a name. His wants and desires won out against the restraints of his job.

“You know what? Fine! I'll make something of my own; unique to me, my mark upon the amusement park history! Of course there still has to be certain requirements in order but I can work around those,” he hurriedly swiped a clean paper and readied his hand, “This one. This one will scream _me_!”

Bendy's smile opened wide at the sudden enthusiasm and rested further onto the table, watching as Bertrum got to work.

No wrong lines made, no doubts had. He was going to pour his heart and soul into this contraption of fun.

 

 

Wouldn't you know, it got approved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And take a wild guess as to what ride he got passed?
> 
> Future chapters may take more time as I REALLY need to get my animation done before the deadline. I will, however, write in my spare time and whenever I can / feel the motivation to.


	10. Joey Grants Grant in Charge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey is out sick and left Grant in charge. Under Grant's care and understanding of staff the place lifts into a better place. Too bad it's only for a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go. Also I have about this week and next week to get my trailer done so I'm very occupied with that. In school, however? I can write for this.

The phone clacked into its holder. Grant's eyes stared at his hand that was still holding on to the neck.

“I'm in charge...,” he muttered to himself. Like saying it would help solidify the not-so-impossible impossibility.

“I'm in charge... for a _week_.” A corner of his mouth twitched up into a slight smile. He let out a small laugh.

The man breathed in and pursed his lips, releasing his hands from their still positions to pat his chest. He smiled at all the possibilities this would mean.

No more incompetent spending. No more late pay. At least until Joey came back.

But then the horizon revealed itself to him. He was the boss right now which meant he could conduct so much more. Firstly he could lighten the workload for everyone, people could leave at their issued times, a longer lunch break, etc.

“Gotta make this last!” he said with finality. He walked out of his office to tell all the wonderful news to the other employees of Joey Drew Studios.

 

 

You know you're a bad boss when practically all of your staff cheer for your long absence. They high-fived and relaxed their tense muscles. Boris was even joining in on the euphoria.

Grant spoke up, making sure to inform further before any doubt set in. “Since I am your new boss!- for the time being- there will be changes! For starters you can clock in and out of work at your stated times! If you choose to work overtime I will see to it that you are payed rightfully. Oh! And there will be enough money as I'm not going to be spending on excess crap. I'll figure everything else later.” The man could've sworn he heard someone crying, and yes there was. There were quite a few teary eyes.

“We got work to do! If you need me, you all know where to find me!” People filtered out of the main room, Grant lingering a little before leaving himself.

The toon wolf was jumping on his feet. There was a buzz humming throughout his body that was ever present. He looked over to Bendy who didn't match his overflowing energy.

“Aren't you excited Bendy?! A _whole week_ without Joey!”

The devil tilted his head in consideration, his horns drooping with the motion. He looked neither pleased or saddened by the news. Just torn between what he should be feeling.

“What's wrong? It's ok to be happy. Are you?”

“Mm... Will everything really be alright?”

Boris shook his head at the ridiculous demon. “Yea, of course everything will be alright! In fact, since Joey is gone...?” He smiled and gave a look to Bendy expectantly. Bendy's neutral smile widened.

The two sprinted out of the room, giggling to themselves.

 

 

This was probably the most packed the cafeteria has ever been since being built. It was the second day in to having their new boss, and everyone was making the limited amount of days count.

Sammy sighed long and heavily into his chair, propping his leg up on the table to keep himself comfortably leaned back.

“You're gonna have to clean the table.”

“Ehhh, can it Norman,” he held up his cup, “I'm enjoying myself.”

Norman let off, understanding, and continued eating his lunch.

The chatter in the room bounced off the wooden walls so there sounded like there were more people than there already was.

“I think we should form a coup against Joey. Or a union,” Sammy spoke up.

“Man, I wish. Ain't that illegal, though?” Norman asked.

Sammy faced Norman. “We could kill him and label it an accident. No one would know but us. A gift for the God.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

“What?”

Norman stared at Sammy like the man grew a third eye.

“Never mind,” Sammy said.

There were a few moments of pause.

“I never said I was adverse to the idea of a coup or union.”

Sammy looked Norman up and down. “I think we're going to need some recruits.”

 

 

Splashes and laughter echoed off the large and mostly empty walls. Boris and Bendy had taken full advantage of Joey's absence the past few days. It was a surprise that the two hadn't completely wrecked the place.

Shawn paused from his work and came out to peer over the railing. He watched as the toons played in the ink fall's basin. They wove in and out of the falling ink and occasionally splashed each other.

“Look at you two having fun!” The two looked up at him and he laughed.

“Would you like to join us Uncle Shawn?!” Bendy asked.

“Nah! My clothes will get all stained. I'm fine just watchin' ya!”

Every now and again Shawn would root and comment from above as the two played and competed.

 

 

It was the last day. It felt too soon. The day previous someone had brought this up and so planned a short-notice potluck to celebrate their end of a free week together. They held it during their two hour lunch that Grant had put into place.

There was a laden atmosphere in the larger-than-one-would-imagine studio. However it was blanketed by the same, restful and positive vibe that had been present the whole week

It seemed the prospect had come up again, but in an entirely new way for Bendy. Again he felt conflicted but this time of Joey's return. But he could say that he felt... saddened at the thought.

“What's going on in that head of yours, Bendy?” Lacie spoke up. She had been talking to Thomas but he and Wally were now discussing a topic to themselves.

Bendy took his time to think, something not usually seen nor practiced.

“For some reason I don't feel... happy, Aunt Lacie.”- “ _Miss.”_ “Happy that Joey's coming back...” The demon toon timidly fiddled with his fingertips.

“Trust me, Bendy, everyone here would like nothing more than for Joey to stay gone. I'm already starting to feel my joints become smooth again,” she scoffed.

“But I _like_ Joey. But I'm also sad that he's coming back,” he stressed.

A look of pity flashed across her eyes for a moment for the ink creature. “I don't think you like Joey.”

The skeletal demon sputtered, hands held firmly on the surface of the table. “W-what?! O-of course I like Joey! He brought me to life...?”

“Ah!” Lacie snapped a finger at him. “You didn't put 'uncle' in front of his name.”

“Huh? Yes I did,” he weakly defended.

“No you didn't. And I don't blame you for not liking him.-”

“But I-”

“Listen, Bendy. You can not like someone but still love them, ok? Do you love Joey?”

Bendy nodded but Lacie noticed some slight hesitance. Her lips pursed minutely at this but accepted the toon's answer for what it was. She wondered when the demon would find out his true feelings on the man.

There's only so much gratefulness can extend.

 

 

The next day Joey was back. It was like a depressing miasma flowed throughout the studio. Everyone was slower, aged back to the way they were. It was impressive how just one person could cause this much of a change.

Boris and Bendy watched the flow of employees drudge about. The wolf hadn't been paying as much attention to Bendy but the the toon shaking before going stock still drew his attention.

He raised a questioning brow but the demon didn't turn to him. Instead he was staring to the side. Boris followed his gaze and saw Joey flipping through some papers.

Boris didn't say anything. Instead he put a hand on Bendy's elbow and tugged lightly in offer. Without a word they exited the room and wandered through random passages in hiding.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sammy: suggests something illegal.  
> Norman: questions it.  
> Sammy: suggests something even more illegal.
> 
> Should I write in a short chapter of the employees starting a coup? Let me know if you guys would like to read that. Obviously in this time period there were little things being passed in the US for a healthier and safer work environment- if anyone was wondering.


	11. Let The Toons Play Cards With Wally, Please, For All That Is Holy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the title. It says all.

The day was slow and all around the three the studio was buzzing as always.

“War!” Boris howled. He and Wally shilled out three cards and flipped the fourth.

“Yes!” Wally scooped the cards to his side. Boris grumbled in defeat.

Bendy leaned over to the janitor. “What'd you get- what'd you get?!” Wally flipped over Boris' cards and then his own.

“Ah, nice! A king! I kept my ace!” Boris grumbled louder.

“Alright! Let's continue!” the wolf called. They slammed down one card from their deck and Boris was the one to take the pot.

Their playing could be loud from time to time and War especially made them so. This made finding them easy.

In came Shawn. His heavy stumble of ink laden footsteps drew the group's attention.

“Uhh, guys?” he pointed tiredly behind himself, “I have a... slight pipe problem.”

Wally looked between the two toons. “Do you know what this calls for?” he stage whispered.

The demon beamed and gasped. “The Wally Brigade!” They all scrambled to stand and put away their cards; a fumbling dance. Shawn laughed.

The Wally Brigade rushed off to the toy floor. Shawn watched them sprint. And then it hit him.

“Wait! I have to show you where the pipe is!” He shuffled a couple steps and stopped. The toy maker sighed in exhaustion. “Eh... they'll find it. I need to take a break!”

 

 

Wally and Boris waited for Bendy to finish finding the pipe. He had his arm submerged into the seam of a pipe, a forked tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth.

“You find it yet?” the janitor asked.

“Hold on... I-- just! It's uh...,” his horns twitched to hear the flow from far away. “I know where it is!”

“Good, let's go!” Boris said. Bendy pulled his arm out and ran limping, beelining for the pipe.

It was pretty far off from where they were and it took some weaving to find it. They saw the pooling of ink before the pipe.

The toons continued into the ink and to the pipe. Then it started to deplete as Bendy absorbed it. Wally followed after.

Through a summoned portal the toon devil pulled out a toolbox and handed it to Wally. The janitor carefully stepped over the broken glass and below the pipe set down the box. Boris came over and took some tools and the two got to fixing as Bendy kept the ink from spilling.

The job got done in no time. The extra hands made the process take from at least an hour to only about ten minutes.

However, this meant that they, again, didn't have anything to do. They returned to their cards, informing Shawn of their job well done.

This time their rowdy game attracted someone else: Joey. And his ire.

“You two! Stop bothering Wally! You can play when he's on break. And Wally? Get back to work! I don't want to catch you slacking off again!”

Wally sighed and dropped his cards. “Yes Boss.”

The demon groaned and slumped headfirst onto the floor. Boris just frowned and slowly collected the cards, giving them to the janitor.

“Sorry guys,” said Wally who stood up.

“S'not yer fault...,” Bendy slurred.

“It's alright, Bendy. Like Joey said we can play cards with him once he's on break.” Boris set a hand between the toon's horns and rubbed but winced and pulled back his hand. Strings of ink stuck to his glove.

The janitor walked out of the room to search for anything to clean. He doubted he'd find anything.

Left to themselves, the wolf stared through the doorway in thought. His pie-cut eyes squinted. An ear twitched up and curled in inquiry.

What could they do? Joey didn't want them to bother the staff and there wasn't much to do on the first floor they were currently on. Maybe they should do something to lighten up the mood.

Looking down, Bendy was still melting. That was to say, more than usual. A depressive slump.

“Do you wanna dance?” Boris asked. The drooping horns formed back to their upward state and Bendy looked at him.

“We can swing or ragtime. Maybe whirlwind?” he smirked.

“Whirlwind!” Bendy exclaimed, keeping his voice low. Boris took Bendy's hand and lifted him up to sprint to the main room.

 

 

A careful, gloved hand released the tonearm. After a second or two a couple random but structured notes were heard. The volume was turned up. The hand joined another.

The two toons started out with lock-handed swing. They occasionally parted and spun, feet thumping on the wooden boards.

Boris tap danced then gestured to Bendy who responded in kind. It went back and forth, back and forth. Faster and faster and faster and faster until they came close again to which they locked forearms and tugged back to swing each other. They pulled apart again but kept close.

The music was rising and so was the energy of their play. They locked hands and twirled each other fast. They looked like the spinning beaters of a mixer.

Unbeknownst to them they had attracted an audience. What the toons were doing wasn't physically possible thus making the spectacle spectacular.

Their spinning stopped, hands unclasped to spin around in opposite directions. They came back together holding with both hands. They hopped close then back, close then back rocking on their feet. The third time they were jumped out as far as they could with hands held, both leaning back.

They tilted to the side and leaned into a quickening spin. They kept going and going, legs blurring, foreshadowing the blending of their forms in a whirlwind. The music was going crazy.

Those close moved back and shielded themselves. Their movement was creating some wind that ruffled any hair and paper nearby. The rapid stomps of their feet sounded like a racing heartbeat and it was drowning out the turntable's output.

The music stopped. It was too abrupt. The wolf and the demon's chaos fell apart as legs got caught stumbling, knocking them down into a rolling heap.

Their spinning heads distorted the sounds of Joey Drew's reprimanding.

Bendy rolled off of Boris and sprawled out along side him. They were both trying to lift their heavy heads, not tired but very disoriented. The demon lifted himself first but his form looked slack. He lightly groaned but turned his head and held out a hand to Boris who gratefully took it.

“Look at all the mess you two made!”

Indeed there was a mess. The toons hadn't realized it, but as they were having their fun, they may have gotten carried away.

Similar to the name of their dance, the lobby looked like a tornado had struck. Chairs and a desk were turned over and scattered. Papers blanketed parts of the floor. Even the projector in the room had been turned on and was shining light at the ceiling. There were many other odd things lying on the floor.

There was also ink splatter. Boris had noticed drips and strings of it had whipped off the devil's body as they spun. It was everywhere.

“You're cleaning all this up!” The boss turned to his employees, “You all get back to work!” He turned around to storm off. As he headed for the door, Wally gave him a 'you should've just let us be, Joey' look.

“Fine. Play your cards. I don't want to see something like this happening again!” He grumbled lowly to him.

Behind his back the janitor smirked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> r/MaliciousCompliance am I right? Been writing in my bits of free time. Any other longer periods I'm animating. It's due Moday and at latest Thursday! (Aka: expect this story to suddenly stop updating because I'll be dead – not really.)


	12. How Much Is That Demon In The Window?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry loves his son. An art dad he is, gives him art!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Read the title of this chapter] He's worth a joke.

There was a heavy weight in his pocket. It was contradictory considering that it was just a simple piece of paper.

'A paper-weight,' Henry's mind couldn't help but supply.

It was bad enough that Alison Angel and Tom Boris were suspicious of him. His goofy smiling was not helping. They probably thought he was nuts, but eh. He didn't care. Everything would loop back eventually. In fact he might already be nuts as it were.

The paper held an emotional weight. He couldn't wait and they were coming upon the right section of halls.

And there it was! Dead ahead and only a few steps away!

“Quiet,” Allison whispered, “Don't make any noise.”

The thumping of a heartbeat echoed in the small room through the glass. Trails of ink skirted the walls and floors. It even slithered under the glass wall's poorly wooded sill.

Henry ignored the angel's warning and approached the glass readily. As soon as Bendy stepped into eyesight Henry's smile beamed.

“Bendy! Bendy!” he called as he knocked his fist on the glass. Behind him a tensed Allison and Boris were fear stricken.

The demon noticed and stopped, stepping towards the barrier.

“I got something!” Henry rushed. He carefully dug into his pocket and unrolled the- unfortunately- rumpled paper. He pressed it against the glass at the demon's height.

Bendy gazed at it for a moment and then the smile on his face shifted to genuine joy. His frame shook with laughter and his spine wasn't able to keep him up anymore as he leaned down with hands on his knobby knees.

The trails of ink danced and fluctuated rapidly. The retired animator laughed along with him.

Every time Bendy tried to reel himself in, one glace at the paper would bring him down weak again. Beads of ink where his eyes should've been formed.

He eventually calmed down and was breathing heavier than before, it was almost deafening. The paper was pulled away and the toon demon was able to look up safely.

“Yea, I got you pretty good, didn't I?” Henry chuckled.

“Yea-ha!” Bendy choked out, the hiccups of laughter forming again from the fresh memory. He stumbled on his feet a little, perhaps to ground himself more. “That's so good!”

“Trust me, I have more!” Bendy looked at him with disbelief and utter joy. “Let's go, I'll show you!” he waved and started walking to the next room, Bendy exiting along with him.

Tom Boris looked at Allison Angel with a look of 'I told you so. We shouldn't have trusted him.' Allison was still shocked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to bet it's memes?
> 
> Also sorry for the wait... and that it's short! I already had this ready for a while but didn't have the time + forgot. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about writing for this! Quite the opposite really...
> 
> And good news! I just got this week and then finals next week and then NO MORE SCHOOL! Well, until I get into college or something. Eh.


	13. Little Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Miracle Stations are new and they're everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is to make up for the previous short chapter... with another short chapter.

Both toons had been sent to their rooms for the time being but Boris chose to go to Bendy's. Being alone was becoming more and more of an uncomfortable experience.

At this point they've exhausted their options and were left fiddling with what they could. Bendy was on his bed and doodling whatever came to mind, sometimes asking Boris what he'd like to have drawn. The wolf himself was on the floor rolling dice to a multiplayer board game which the demon had opted out from some time ago out of boredom.

“With all these miracle stations going up, you'd think this place is becoming a church,” Boris said. It was an attempt at conversation; something to do.

Bendy caught on but was confused. “Huh?”

“I'm saying there's a lot of them now. I think they're supposed to be confession booths but there's no second compartment.”

“I haven't seen anything like that around.” Was Boris ok? Maybe they've spent too much time in a singular room. Bendy knew _he_ got a bit loopy in the head from staying in one room for too long.

“Really? They're practically everywhere. There's one down the hall that we passed just to get here.”

The demon shook his head. “There wasn't anything there the last I checked.”

Boris squinted. He stood up and opened the door. “Here, I'll show you. Maybe you were too distracted or something.” The two made their way out, Boris taking the lead.

There, right in the corner was the Little Miracle Station. The toon wolf gestured to it.

“See? It's right there. And the others around this studios look just like it.”

Was Boris feeling ok? Bendy didn't see anything there. Just a walled corner.

“I don't... see anything.” The demon gave Boris a concerned look. The wolf gave him one right back.

“You can't see it?” Bendy shook his head. “Huh.” Boris tried rapping on it. “Can you hear this?”

The noise was confusing. Or was it the lack of noise? The inky horns on Bendy's head swayed. He opened his mouth to say something but came up short. What could he say? It was like he heard something but also nothing at all. Did it even happen?

“No- well, kinda? I don't know.” Boris stared at him for a moment.

“Try touching it.”

“What?”

“Try touching it,” Boris insisted.

“I can't.”

“Why not?”

Yea, why couldn't he? It was just an open space but he couldn't bring himself to wave a hand in that tiny area.

“Maybe there is something there but I just can't see it? Maybe somehow I know it's there?”

Boris looked back at the station. One could get inside of it. Maybe he couldn't see the station but maybe he could see him? At least, be able to see him sit on an invisible seat. “Hold on, let me try something.” He stepped into the station and peered out through the slot.

The toon demon seemed to _shift_ somewhat. He looked around and rubbed his head.

Why was he here? Shouldn't he be in his room? But didn't he come out with Boris to do something? He couldn't remember.

When Boris saw that Bendy was beginning to leave, he quickly pushed out of the station.

“Bendy! Bendy, where are you going?” The toon devil turned around in surprise.

“Boris! There you are! I was confused on to where you went!”

The wolf gave him an incredulous look up and down. “What do you mean? I just went inside the miracle station.”

Bendy's face blanked, but it was that of being dumbfounded. “Oh... that.”

This was bad. Boris didn't know why, but for some reason these things were springing up everywhere. Well, now he knew the reason. It was having some psychological affects on his spindly friend so it had something to do against him.

Boris had to fix that. This hindrance would be overcome. Whether it be effective or not in the long run, he still had to help Bendy.

“I could draw up a map. If you want?”

Bendy smiled. “Sure.”

That map was kept securely within his ink body. Whenever he felt odd, he would pull out the paper and locate where he was and confirm that one was indeed there. Boris was even kind enough to draw him what the booth looked like. However, he's noticed that some people would go missing suddenly and that he couldn't remember who. It hurt him just a bit, but he knew that some people didn't like him no matter how kind he was.

Boris saw those people, though, and just frowned. When they came out, he just shook his head disappointingly at them. They ignored him.

' _Joey, whatever you're planning, I don't like it_.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped ya'll liked the concept. I also wrote this in ~45 min. Yea I'm kinda slow at writing but this time I was typing like mad. Not that I can't navigate the keys, I can, it's just slow going.
> 
> P.S. I love the comments, no matter how small! I get that it's hard to write something when you want to comment. I'm a simple person and a "nice!" can go a long way for me. It also lets me know you liked the chapter!
> 
> P.P.S. Thank you to anyone who has read this far! I hope you've liked it thus far and that you'll like what's to come!


	14. Pilot the Imagination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy and Boris have some fun flying a plane!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this during my senior finals! F.

The room was big. Massive, even. Always bouncing noise off its tall and rounded wooden walls. Heavenly Toys sure was grandiose.

Boris' favorite part of this place were the planes suspended from the ceiling. In fact, he was currently lying next to Bendy and gazing up at them. Both were having the time of their lives in their shared imagination. But fantasy wasn't enough it seemed.

The wold in their minds crumbled and faded as the demon grew restless. Boris looked to him in question but was too lazy to move. He knew his friend could see it anyways.

“What if we actually went _in_ the plane?” Bendy pondered.

“In? You mean in those?” The wolf was a bit unsure but was on board with the idea. The two usually were in tune with each other and loved anything of good fun.

“Yea...”

The planes never moved, the factory machine never stopped, and the ink fall always created a low roar. The wood floors were comfy, oddly enough, but the lounge couches even more so. Truly such and odd and peaceful place to be.

“Sure, why not.” Of course, Boris _knew_ why not, he just chose to not acknowledge it. Bendy never seemed to either.

Simultaneously they both stood up. Bendy went to the sofas where as Boris stood to think.

“How do we get up there?” he asked.

The devil thought. Originally he was going to portal himself up there. But where was the fun and adventure in that? It was boring! It would feel much better if they had to work to get there, as all things usually are he's come to learn.

“I was thinking of stacking this stuff up so we can climb it.” He grabbed onto the couch and pulled it close to beneath the plane.

“Alright.” Boris followed suit.

It took a while with some very frightening moments but now it was stacked. Bendy wobbled on top and stabilized himself by lightly touching the plane. He could feel the coat of dust stick to his ink.

He peered down at Boris who was climbing the tower of stuff. Everything in the room had been put towards the effort of climbing so now everything was bare. It was an odd sight for sure but an interesting one nonetheless.

Just before Boris could reach the top, Bendy climbed into the cockpit. More like he tumbled into it. His long limbs made it difficult for him to right himself within the small, confined space. He was fast enough to now reach out a hand and help Boris in.

The plane swayed and the cords creaked. But they were holding steady so it was all good.

Boris sat down and took the wheel. Of course, there wasn't one, but it was the thought that counts. Bendy stood behind him.

One gloved hand on the cord, Bendy started rocking the plane. Boris tried to help and quickly they were swinging forwards and backwards.

“This feels just like that episode with the plane!” Bendy shouted excitedly.

The wolf looked down below and feigned a look of shock and horror. “Bendy! They're shooting at us! They're shooting at us Bendy!” He began moving the plane side to side. Bendy yelled and crouched down for cover, still using a hand to swing them.

Next Boris bounced his knees and the whole plane shook.

“Turbulence! Turbulence!” Bendy cried. The tension of the moment degrading his mind into simplicity. He laughed.

Spindly arms wrapped around the back of the plane and shook so now they were turning in the air as they swung and shook.

“Hold on Bendy!” Boris yelled and they both screamed, making it through the climax of the chaos.

The plane leveled out, a teetering squeak coming from above. The two calmed down, both having closed their eyes, Bendy's presumably so.

The demon gasped. “Boris!” he called lifting his head, “Boris we made it! We're safe!” The wolf peek his eyes open and looked around. He slumped back and wiped invisible sweat from his brow.

“Phew! That was close!”

“I'll say!” The two had a laugh.

“ _What_ are you two doing up there?!” Said two looked below at a horrified Shawn.

This was insane and completely dangerous! Leave it to the toons to do things no one should _ever_ do!

“We're playing!” Bendy answered, Boris nodding.

The man kept eyeing the stack of furniture and miscellaneous items. “Good lord,” he whispered to himself before saying, “I'm getting help!” He ran out of the room. The toons weren't going to protest.

Instead they had better things to do. The toon devil turned his head to the front and smiled, pointing.

“Look! An island!” Boris looked in the direction as well and put a flat hand over his eyes.

“I see it!”

Bendy leaped onto the nose of the plane like he had in the cartoon. “Then let's go!”

Unfortunately the demon forgot that he was _not_ a small thing, and suddenly the plane shifted down at the nose. There was loud creaking and both saw that the bolt and frame keeping it up was breaking.

“Uh oh,” Bendy said. The suspension snapped and the ground gave way under the toon.

He fumbled and twisted in the air and hit the plane. He just barely managed to catch himself on the edges of the cockpit as it swung back.

Boris stiffened his legs the best he could to keep himself from falling out.

“Bendy!” he cried.

“Boris!” the devil cried back.

Just then Grant barreled into the room. “Boys!” The toons were able to glance at him but their fright was not calmed.

Shawn sprinted in after, took one look at the situation and started muttering into action. A few others came in too.

Behind him Boris could hear the only other suspension keeping them up creaking. Dread filled his mind and fueled fear to squeeze his heart.

“Bendy! The other cord is coming loose!”

Bendy had to do something. There had to be some solution, there was always one. He looked around and quickly spotted the inky waterfall. He looked back at the plane to gauge the distance and decided it would do.

He began swinging his legs to get the plane moving again.

Boris clutched harder at the cockpit's rim. “What are you doing!”

“I'm swinging!”

“Why?! This thing's about to break!”

“So we can land in the ink!”

The high-strung wolf looked and decided: yes. Yes that would do nicely. He helped swing the plane back forth, the creaking growing louder and louder like a death toll.

They were quickly swinging hard enough to jump. But they didn't get to.

The cord snapped as they were swinging back to the inky falls, careening strait for it. The two screamed but it was stopped and drowned out by the ink.

The people watched in horror and disbelief as the plane crashed. They were holding their breathe, partially in wait and partially not.

Grant wasn't going to idle by. He ran up to the wreckage and grabbed hold of a wing and started pulling.

The plane then moved on it's own and the man had to move if he didn't want to fall over. Bendy grunted as he pushed the model plane to the side. Boris crawled to get up next to him.

The two quickly got out from under the wreck and out from the fall's pool to observe their mess.

“Are you two ok?” Grant asked. Some of those that had witnessed the scene had gone from the room to inform the others. Shawn came over to make sure they were fine as well, and partly to see if he could salvage the mess made.

“I'm fine. How about you Boris?”

“All good.”

Grant huffed and assessed that yes, they looked completely fine. They were a bit shaken but they'd be alright.

Now there was the problem concerning the plane. He didn't think they owned a large ladder but there has to be one around here, how else were the posters put up?

The wolf and the demon gave each other a look and together they exited the room in silence. They might as well head to their rooms since they were going to be sent there anyways. They could forgo Joey's lecture they were sure to get.

Bendy bumped his hand against the wolf's and Boris knew what he wanted. It was instinct at this point. He held his hand as they were walking, and playing in the backs of their minds were their recent fantasy with a smile playing on their faces.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing their mischief! They're best bud bros. Oh! And I take suggestions!
> 
> I have to say, once this is done, I'm doing other one shots for other fandoms. However, I will also be finishing my other BatIM fic.


	15. Money Mysteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant teaches the value of wealth to Bendy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. This one was a challenge to write. I made it thought! Yayy... hope ya'll like.

It was a long time comin'. There was time to kill and nothing to do, which made it a perfect time for a lecture.

Within Grant's office, Bendy sat in a chair across from the man's desk, the man himself sitting upon the desk. He was a stout man and the desk was study, especially the corners, so he thinks.

“Alright Bendy. I'm gonna try and make this easy for you to understand so if you get lost, just ask and I'll tell you. You got that?” The poor demon still didn't understand the importance of money, no matter how much complaints were thrown around about it. It was time they fixed that. Bendy was ready.

“Yes!” the demon said with vigor.

Grant adjusted himself before he began.

“Money... is something we use to get stuff. The more money you have, the more you can get. The less you have, the less you can get. For example,” the man grabbed a pen and held it up, “say this pen costs 16 cents.” He then parsed out some money he had prepared next to him and pulled out a dime, a nickle, and a penny and held them up. “Ten plus five plus one of these equals sixteen. Sixteen cents. I pay this to the person and I receive the pen,” he exchanges the money and pen between hands.

“But what's the point of money? Why would people want a lot of metal bits?” Bendy didn't see the point. It was a trade, or a deal, hashed out between two people. He'd feel cheated out of his work if he were offered a few measly disks.

“I think you're thinking of the usability. The reason why we have money is so that we can _trade_ easier. If we were to actually trade items, it would be very hard to get what we want. Maybe we need wood for _another_ part of the studio.” He was starting to jab at Joey. He would have to restrain himself otherwise it could upset Bendy. “ _We_ need wood, but what would the lumber company need from us? They don't need ink or acme paper, pipes and the like. So why would they trade their wood with us? But because we have money, we can trade that with them so that we can get our wood, and they can use the money to trade with another to get what _they_ want.”

Bendy 'oh'ed. “That makes a _lot_ more sense now.”

“Now that we got that part over with, there's more to money that that. As from the explanation I just gave, you know how you can earn money, right?”

“Right!”

“Ok.”

In truth, Bendy kinda knew how. However the moment called for him to agree- like a script. He'll stew on it later.

“Like I said, the more money you have, the more you can spend. With that comes the more power you have as well.”

The toon tilted his head.

“Money is valuable, especially right now. People need it to live, so they'll do some risky things for a greater amount. Some person giving that great amount has power over them in that sense: they're making that person do something risky.

“Actually, Joey does something similar.” He couldn't help it anymore. “He holds money over us to keep us working. And if he wants to, he can make us work longer. The employees can start up a union but Joey could just use the money he somehow still has and order a good amount of police on us and get away.”

He stewed in his frustration. There was really no out. Other than murder, he didn't think Joey deserved that much to lose his life.

Oh! Right! Darn, he slipped. The toon didn't like it when people harped negatively about Joey. But he wasn't stopped and he wasn't interrupted by a defensive rebuttal. He looked to the demon. He didn't seem upset at all.

“What?” The demon didn't know what was currently going on in Grant's head. It would be a lot easier if he did know, because right now he was being analyzed. He didn't know what for, he didn't exactly do anything, did he?

With a shake of his head to snap him out of his reverie, Grant said, “Oh- nothin'. Just... you didn't stop me... when I was talking about Joey.”

“You can go on if you like?” the demon gave him an apologetic look; a kind concern. He didn't want to make the tired money man feel ashamed in any way.

Grant hummed. He was a little miffed but it was a nice change. He slid off his desk and rubbed between the demon's horns as he walked by to a shelf of books and paperwork saying, “Look at you growin' up in the world.” He was happy that even Bendy was now on the bandwagon with them, though not completely. At least he was forming his own opinions rather than having blind, devoted ideals.

He crouched down and took some files into his arm and went back to his desk, this time sitting in his chair. The legs of it squeaked as he scooted into place.

“Would you like to do some work with me? There's not much to do and we've got a whole day ahead of us. Maybe you could learn something?” He raised an eyebrow at the demon.

Bendy smiled. “Yes please!”

The files were unloaded and were organized quickly. “Alright. We'll go slow so that you don't fall behind.”

Now Bendy could say that he understood how money worked quite well, better than most in fact. Comments and conversation that had previously left him zoning out were now engaging. Funny how just a few lessons could open up a whole world to him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about time Bendy learned some common cents! You all are lovely and thanks for reading. There will be more! Also, 16 cents is $3, I just adjusted to inflation. If anyone asks, I can give them the link to the calculator but I'm pretty sure it's a quick search away.
> 
> Very sorry for the long wait! I've just been basking in being released from school. I have this to post and two others are close behind but they're not done yet. Happy reading! (Don't worry, there's going to be more chapters than just two after this one.)


	16. Stops and Rests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you know! Bendy gets to conduct the band! But trouble is afoot and it's wearing a certain boss man's shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late! I bring to you what Scarce couldn't: a double upload!

It was amazing! He never got to be maestro before! Sure, he'd been doing this for a good amount of time but the high wasn't petering off.

Bendy had to take the place of Sammy for the time being as the man was helping Wally find his keys again. This time it seemed they were lost somewhere other than the music department.

Oh well! It was no matter. The more time spent trying to find the keys meant more time being able to conduct a band. And they were soon going to record!

The notes were lining up perfectly like the previous. They had gone a few rounds already and each time there were less and less mishaps.

Then the outro theme played and Bendy rapped it up with a wide flourish.

“That sounded amazing!” he praised, applauding the players.

For them the change in conductors had been a nice breath of fresh air. Sammy wasn't so positive and would scold anyone if they were to mess up even one note. Bendy would simply point it out and sometimes would ask if they needed a break.

Maybe the demon was too nice. Those in the band couldn't help but feel a little guilty but that's what made them play the best they could.

“Are we all set for recording?” called Norman from the balcony. He leaned lax on the railing, one hand, and by extension arm, resting on the projector sitting next to him.

There was some murmuring and then out of the crowd a lady, willowy frame competing with the demon's, spoke out. “Yes! I think we're good!” There was the sound of agreement and the projectionist turned his attention to the projector.

Bendy shifted in place and rolled his shoulders. He was beaming, he was so excited. He was ready, or wanted to be in any case.

Light shot onto the wall. “We ready?!” The toon gave him a thumbs up. Everyone quickly got into position and waited.

Norman allowed the projector to play and the devil kept his 'eyes' trained on the screen in front of him.

The numbers trickled down and when it hit one Bendy rose his arms and the band drew up with it.

As soon as his arms swooped down instruments started playing. He was now more focused on the band rather then what was happening on the wall.

Oh, Bendy wanted to roll on the floor and then hug each and every single person. They were giving their heart out for this piece- and they only just finished the intro! He would have to hold out until the very end.

The ink inside him swooned and dipped and did many odd things. It was like he was dancing in place. In the light beaming down, Norman could see the phenomena and smiled. He was bobbing along too.

Those playing the instruments didn't feel the euphoria as intensely. It helped keep the music together and that's probably why the response while playing was there. However the want was still existent- at least to most.

“Bendy! What are you doing?!”

Shocked from his movements and mild mind travel, Bendy whipped his head to the source. The music stopped with the break of discorded noises. From above Norman scrambled to turn off the recorder and slowly, dreadfully, turned to look down at who he _knew_ was there.

“C-con—conducting?” Bendy sputtered. Joey caught his mind off guard. He was surprised to see him actually.

“You're not supposed to be doing that- where's Sammy?” Joey walked more into the room and scanned the area for the missing man.

“Not here.” Joey gave him a _look_. “He's helping find Wally's keys...”

It's appropriate to note that the band members were quite disgruntled at being interrupted and by Joey, no less. Everyone knew not to intrude on his lecturing to the demon.

“That's not his job, and neither is you leading a band. Go to your room, I'll deal with you later.” He waved the demon off.

“No.”

Many eyes widened. Bendy never refuted Joey's word. _Never_.

The man whipped his attention back to Bendy. “What was that?”

“I said no. I'm _not_ going to my room.”

Joey walked and faced him fully, invading the defiant toon's space. “That wasn't a choice.”

The devil frowned. “I know how sentences work, Joey. And I'm saying no. We were in the middle of recording.”

“And now you're not. You are going. To your room. _Now_ ,” the irate man pointed behind him, at the door.

The toon's arms crossed and his frown deepened, a collection of inky lines made their appearance and squiggled wildly above the toon's head. The horns on his head seemed to open wider as he leaned over Joey.

“I will go to my room _later_.” His face stopped right in front of Joey's. The boss was starting to fret from the uncomfortable bodily entrapment. In a deep, scratchy and gurgling voice, Bendy rumbled a drawn out, “ _Leave_.”

Joey went sheet white. He ducked to escape the demon's hunched over cage of a posture and slowly, fretfully left the room.

Everyone viewing this spectacle was shocked frozen. The irrational though of “they're next” marching through their minds.

But suddenly, the layered, slathered tension broke with Bendy's posture shooting up along with his shoulders. He puffed a huff. His whole being was back to normal: like the toon he was intended to be.

“Grrruh! He makes me so mad! I just wanna kick something!” Instead he stomps the ground. Hard. So hard, in fact, that the wooden board could be heard wobbling against the protesting nails. The board was luckily whetted often by Wally's mop and not completely dry.

There was a moment of silence and one of the musicians took this chance to speak up saying, “Would you like to try recording again, Bendy? Or do you need a break?”

The toon devil considered his options. “I think I need a break.”

“I'll get you a chair,” another said, getting up to grab a chair and slide it next to the piano. Bendy lumbered over and sat, the musician patting his shoulder to let him know it was alright before rejoining the practicing group of people.

There was this horrible feeling welling up in Bendy's gut. If he had one. It always appeared after a fight with Joey but this time it felt a little different; a little odd. It wasn't a spicy feeling, more like a fizzling of... something that felt good and bad at the same time. Boy does he wish that Henry was here to help him sometimes. He knew everything about him- he was the creator after all. Maybe it's just his ink acting up, who knows. He'd have to consult Boris. Maybe someone around the studio had felt this feeling before.

Unknown to the stewing demon, the employees had talked among themselves and had given Norman the go-ahead. They were professionals and practically didn't need a guide, though it was extremely helpful to have one.

The demon was upset and seemed to be getting worse so they knew that music would help cheer him up, going by his previous expressions before being rudely interrupted.

The first notes played which, of course, quickly led the rest into the piece. The music was a welcome distraction and Bendy quickly lost himself in the melody.

It ended too quickly in the toon's book but time flies when you're having fun, yes? People were clapping for a job well done and there were hugs all around.

Norman didn't call for a redo because of Bendy's whistling and instead kept it as it surely added and fit into the piece. He wondered if it could be considered the demon's signature to the piece? He knew for sure that Joey wouldn't dare turn down this recording. The fear of Bendy's retaliation wasn't the only thing he should be scared of.

 

On his way back to the band room, Sammy passed an angry, flustered Joey. Pale too. He didn't really know what his boss said but it sounded something like “needing to put that demon in his place.” He wondered what that was all about. And then he didn't, because he didn't care.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm slipping on this whole fic? Though, changing maybe? Eh- these fics aren't really in any order but I seem to be writing them that way. This one's a bit angsty but I tried to make it a bit cute. Bendy is a child: change my mind. Actually I might do something sweet for the last chapter, though I don't really have anything planned out? Just a good note to end on I reckon. -But that's a maybe. Maybe.


	17. Taste Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouldn't there be more the toons can eat, Susie asks. Que 'Be Our Guest' please...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second! Also, how are people reading my older fics?? Really now?! (this is a shameless plug: check out my stuff!)

It was a rare thing to experience for sure. First off, Susie barely got to be with the toons. Second, the toons didn't need to eat. Or that's what she thought at least. Yes, they didn't need to eat.

So being with them for lunch was quite the meeting. And so far, it was all that one might expect from toons: it was odd.

Boris had just gotten done eating from the bacon soup can and moved it aside to open the second one that was there.

“Two cans? You must really like the stuff,” she said. Boris looked at her and then pulled out another can from out of sight. He set it next to the empty can.

“Oh...” Susie just gave a look of disappointment. She wasn't sure how much was healthy for a toon, but for her half a can would be enough.

“Boris keeps eating all of it. I don't blame him though, bacon soup is good!” Bendy said, bringing a spoon of the stuff to his mouth.

The woman stared at the two and said, “You poor, poor toons. You both need to try other things.”

They shrugged. It was no big deal. They didn't see what the problem was. It was bacon soup! And bacon soup is the best, after all.

This could _not_ do. Not if Susie had anything to say about it.

 

The next day Susie came in with a bag of fruit and yogurt. It was simple and it was something the toons already partially experienced; they had fruit before.

Now that she thought about it, they _have_ had other foods, just in sporadic, meager amounts. From what she knew they only ever ate bacon soup, though, besides that.

“Hey, Wally, do you know where the boys are?” If someone knew where the toons were it was Wally. He frequented the entirety of the studio on calls from distressed workers so he was bound to know where they were. Plus the two liked to hang out with him sometimes.

Wally straitened from his kicked-up posture on the wooden chair. “Last I saw 'em, Ms. Campbell, they were down in the amusement park.”

“Hmm.”

The janitor caught the look on the voice actress' face. It was contemplative and a tad troubled.

“What do ya need 'em for? I'm sure if you'd call for them, they'd come.”

That was an idea. Susie didn't really feel like working up a sweat trying to find the toons in this labyrinth of a studio. She was sure no one did.

She held up the bag she was carrying that held the food she'd brought. “I thought it would do for those toons to try some good food for a change.”

“What? Bacon soup ain't good enough? Ain't top quality, bacon-y standard?” he chuckled, and the joke made Susie smile and roll her eyes. She liked Joey but sometimes he could be ridiculous.

“Exactly. I'm going to have the toons develop a golden tongue just so that they can convince Joey make the soup a better quality,” she turned, “I'm going to see if I can call out for them.”

Already Wally kicked his feet back up against the wall in his little corner. “Alright. Call me if you need me!”

 

Now that she was standing in the cafeteria, Susie felt awkward. She supposed... she was supposed to... just... call out for them?

“Bendy! Boris!” Her voice reverberated back to her. It was silent. “Come here please! I got some things for you!”

It was still silent. She stood around, waiting. Maybe it took a while for them to get here? This studio _was_ big.

To bide her time she began taking things out of her bag. A container of yogurt, a variety of fruits, some granola, honey, and of course a couple bowls and spoons.

There was a bloop noise and then a splash off to the side. Out came Boris with a gasp and then Bendy very close behind, stumbling over each other. They had the grace of baby elephants: none.

“There you two are! I didn't think you boys would show from just calling you.”

Bendy waved her off in assurance. “Nah, we heard. We were in the middle of knocking down milk bottles.”

During his explanation, Boris had come over to inspect what the woman had lied out on the table, no doubt having smelt it as soon as he stumbled into the room. The wolf watched as she scooped the yogurt into separate bowls.

“What's that?” he asked. It was creamy white with an interesting consistency. It was like the Vaseline he and Bendy found and played with from an emergency kit. Was Vaseline edible? Or rather more specifically, _white_ Vaseline?

It wasn't Vaseline. “It's yogurt.”

“Oh...”

The two watched in silence as she finished up portioning the stuff. She then started working at the fruit, firstly gesturing at the granola and honey, berries too. “You two can start adding whatever you'd like to your bowls. Yogurt is quite tart but you don't need to add honey to it. The fruit can help sweeten it too.”

Immediately Boris eagerly began throwing some berries into his. Bendy did not. He looked at her with concern etched into his frown.

“You don't need to do this Auntie Susie. We don't need to eat.” He knew money was hard, and her wasting her own dollar like this was flattering, but unneeded.

“I know you don't,” she said as she cut into an apple, “I just wanted to show you two the world you're missing out on.”

The smile was back. “Thanks Auntie Susie!”

The voice actress laughed. “No need! No need! Thank you, though.”

With vigor, the devil threw berries and nuts into his bowl (and his mouth). Susie was doing the same, but with care instead of abandon.

There were many hums of appreciation, but Susie found that these were commonplace with anything they found good, no matter how many times they've eaten it. It wasn't much but it was better than cringing and biting back gags.

Not like much could go wrong with a simple yogurt-fruit mix- unless some of fruit was sour in which case it was unavoidable.

Oh. And now Boris was licking up the rest of his meal. The bowl clattered on the table and Susie almost freaked that it would shatter. It did not.

“That was good!” the wolf exclaimed, “Those black berries were super sweet!”

“I'll say!” Bendy agreed, setting down the bowl with a little more care than his friend. He licked his... teeth? with a tongue that looked more like a tendril that was unsure about being forked or not and had decided halfway would do.

That was interesting. Susie had assumed he didn't have a tongue. The more she knew, she guessed.

She had to wrap up this little meeting quickly and punch in. She had to make sure the chandeliers had a voice and sing. What to make next?

 

The cafeteria smelt good. Anyone walking into work could smell waffles and the sweet notes of syrup and berry compote.

It was commonplace now to smell food when walking in and so most employees learned to come early if they wanted a set breakfast.

Each time, usually, the food served was different. Everyone knew what Susie was doing by this point, some people even coming early not just for the food, but to see how the toons liked it. Plus it was like watching morning cartoons, only it's real and genuine.

Right now Bendy was confused. Almost. A solid round disc of baked sweet bread and berry sauce. He observed as Susie and some others used a fork and a knife to cut the waffle into smaller pieces. That was certainly a waste of time!

Sure, he used his fork and stabbed the underside to lift it up. He opened his mouth and ate the entire thing.

“Bendy! That's not how you eat a waffle!” Susie exclaimed, starting to laugh at the end.

“What?” It was obvious he knew what he did, and Susie laughed more.

“That's not how you do it!” Boris lifted his with his hands and folded it. Then he bit down and chewed, placing the ring of waffle onto the plate. “You're supposed to do it like that,” he said with his mouth full, swallowing, “So that you have a ring to easily eat from using the fork and knife.”

The poor voice actress only laughed more. “Boris, you heathen!”

Unlike the demon, the wolf did _not_ know what he did, and Bendy chuckled at him for that.

“You do you, pal.”

 

Today's menu was soup. There wasn't just one type, but many. Susie could afford this, in fact, Joey had been paying her more just to fund this. Her wallet thanked him greatly.

The door to the cafeteria opened and heavy steps descended.

“What is it today?” called Tom.

Susie, who had been pouring the different substances from a ladle and into bowls, turned and called back. “Soup!”

The mechanic hummed. Upon coming closer he could see there was three cooked. Susie left juggling the many bowls she poured and he followed close after with his own.

“There you are boys. Soup! This is tomato, this is lentil, and this one's mushroom,” she pointed accordingly.

The toons pulled the bowl closest to themselves. And sat.

Susie blew on her soup and drank. Tom was going to do the same but something was off. The _toons_ were off.

They weren't doing anything. Nothing. Just... staring at the soup.

“What's wrong?” he said and roped Susie's attention to the problem.

Bendy's mouth twinged to the side with a hum. Nothing more.

“Bendy? Boris?” No reaction. Susie turned to Tom. “What's wrong with them?”

Hell if he knew! He shook his head, “I dunno. It's like they're trying to figure out the meaning of life through a bowl of soup.”

They looked confused. Lost. And they were.

What is this? It certainly couldn't be soup. No, it couldn't. But was it? Could it be soup? Wasn't bacon soup the only soup?

The voice actress winced and slowly withdrew the bowls from the two. “Alright, I think... ok. You two can run off now.”

And just like that they were out of their trance, all smiles again.

“Alright!”

“C'mon Bendy! Let's go create a fort!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when you dissociate via a bowl of soup? Build a fort! (This chapter was a challenge to nail out but fun.)
> 
> I've already completed the next chapter but I'm gonna wait to post it as I think the second to last chapter might take a bit to write. I think it's gonna be long but we'll see. The last chapter hasn't really been fully conceptualized yet. All I know is that I want it to be short and sweet. Maybe sad? Eh!
> 
> All I can say is, get ready for a certain lucky rabbit in the next chapter.


	18. Contraband

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not the best business strategy to promote a competitor's product but is it so bad to at least like their stuff?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M GROSSLY SORRY GUYS! I'm currently working on the very last chapter.

It was the end of the day and everyone was filtering out of the studio. In this case, the animators as the other employees had already left hours before.

Like always, Bendy waved them goodbye and good night, sad to see them go but happy in wait of their arrival.

“Bye Uncle Kenny! See ya tomorrow! Sweet dreams!” He waved to the man who waved back with a kind and tired smile.

Wait a minute. There was something missing, something missing...

Bendy brought a hand under his chin in thought. Hadn't Kenny brought something in? He looked up to see said man climb into his car.

A light bulb shot up above his head. That's right! He brought in a film reel!

“Uncle Kenny!” he called, waving his arm. The car boarded the path from the parking lot. “Uncle Kenny!”

It was too late. Kenny couldn't hear him. He sighed and walked back in. Perhaps set it out for him when he comes back?

No. For some reason Kenny had smuggled it in, though very poorly. He didn't want Kenny getting in trouble! Getting in trouble sucked!

But what was the film of? His curiosity grew and got the better of him. The last he saw it, and the most logical place for it to be, was in the projector room. He used his faster and quieter mode of transportation: teleportation through ink. Such a useful ability that he hadn't had when he was still in the cartoons.

In the room, he tiptoed on his malformed feet, stepping over-exaggeratedly in bowed arcs. And there it was, within his clutches. A reel. A finished one it looked like. Named...

He held the reel far to examine everywhere, then brought it back.

“Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, huh?” the demon whispered to himself.

Not feeling the need to keep sneaking around, he rigged the reel up to the projector. It was loud and contradicted his previous concerns comically.

“Alright!” he cheered and rushed to sit in a chair. It rocked with the devil's sudden force but settled back on its four legs again.

3... 2... 1...

 

There was a grumble and a huff. The inker put down her pen with a sigh.

“Susan!” Said woman turned around and gave Joey a look of a thousand sleepless nights.

“What?” was all she said.

A paper was held up to her face in a clutched hand. There was an image of a certain cartoon rabbit.

“Explain to me why this is here?!”

She shrugged and turned back around. Honestly, she couldn't give a damn anymore. “I don't know. I didn't draw it, it's somebody else'.”

The question was than directed to the rest of the animators who in turn gave him the same answer.

That was merely _one_ of the _many_ Oswalds Joey would find that day. Each time his anger grew deeper and deeper with more and more confusion sprouting up.

This wasn't good. Bendy didn't know Joey would go out looking for blood just from seeing his drawings. Oh, the horror that would befall everyone if he were to find the reel!

It was quick: all he had to do was take it and store it in the ink. Now the problem was finding Kenny.

He stood in the hall leading to the projector room, straining a horn out to hear him. There was so much noise but the ink helped provide vision too. He was in the music department.

And down he went but when he looked around the man was nowhere to be found.

This got him an odd look from the janitor. “You alright Bendy?” And the way the demon whipped around did not help his case.

“O-oh! Hey Uncie Wally! Uh... have you seen Uncle Kenny?”

This got a chuckle from the man as he explained, “Yes! He was tryin' to find somethin' too but I told him I was already tryin' to find my keys! And here _you_ are trying to find _him_!”

Wally's good nature relaxed the devil a bit. “Do you know where he went?”

“Hmm,” the man thought, “I don't know for sure, but I think he was headin' in the direction of Heavenly Toys. So: down a level.”

“Thanks Uncie Wally!” Bendy said, taking a few big strides to the stairwell and just before he completely passed the threshold out, “Your keys are on the desk upstairs in the small office room!”

Interesting how he knew where _that_ was rather than the man he needed. And that man made noise! It seemed the drama effect was working against him this time.

“Uncle Kenny!” he called as he sped-walked into the spacious room. Nothing but the call of clanking metal answered him back. He got into the factory room and called again.

On the ground was Tom. He didn't pause from fixing the machine but simply pointed further in.

“Thanks!” Bendy said and he was off again. Man was Kenny fast!

If it wasn't for the movement and the breathing, Bendy would have passed him. He was rifling behind the stacked dolls in the storage room.

The excited and loud steps of the demon made the man jump.

“Uncle Kenny!”

“Oh!” Kenny breathed, sighing heavily, “It's just you! Uh...” He looked around himself. Did he need to excuse himself? What a time for the toon devil to call him out.

Suddenly the air shifted, like everything became quiet with an air of suspicion. Bendy crouched even more into his already hunched posture.

With the back of his ungloved hand he whispered, “I have your reel.”

“You do?” he said in disbelief. And also in a regular volume.

“Shh! Yes! In the ink. But! If you haven't noticed, Joey has been on a hunt because uh,” he then got bashful and tapped the tips of his fingertips together, “I may have drawn Oswald... a bit too much?” It wasn't really a question as it was more uncertainty for what constituted upwards of about 40 doodles as “a bit”.

Kenny's face lifted into an impressed expression. “You watched it? And you liked it?”

“Yes.” To both of course. “ _Well_... it got a _little_ bit mean sometimes but it's the style I think. I like Oswald.”

The man stood back and considered this new horizon and then he slowly came back in and whispered, “I'll tell you what, if I can give that reel back to my friend, I can see if I can get another one from him. He works at the competitor's studio.”

“Really?!” the devil jumped for joy and was now vibrating.

“Yea! Now, you think you can sneak that reel into my briefcase without anyone noticing?”

The devil seemed to zone out. He was still standing but it was like he wasn't completely present. Until he was again and his face went back to its genuine expression of giddiness.

“Alright, it's there!”

“Cool. I've spent too much time looking around. Look forward to the next episode, Bendy! And make sure you try and keep the drawings of Oswald on the down-low.” He finger saluted and sauntered off back in the direction upstairs.

“I will!” Bendy whisper-yelled and than called with a wave, “Bye Uncle Kenny!”

Now where was he? Ah yes!

Quickly Bendy made it down to his room and sat at his desk. He had been interrupted hearing Joey becoming upset. On the surface was a piece of paper with him, Boris, and the new addition: Oswald.

“Where were we?!” he exclaimed, planting his palms on either side of the page. Oswald held up a map, and he and Boris pointed to it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oswald! I may not've been born during that time (obviously) but I grew up watching rubber-hose cartoons like Porky Pig, Betty Boop, and whatnot. Color vision came later. It's why I have a love for this game.
> 
> I consider anything you'd like to me write so please feel free to comment!


	19. The Chaos of Axwatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I'm bored! Oh! Here's somethin' to do!” - Shawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me somebody gets the title reference! An wow I am late to posting!... again.

When all you have to do is keep an eye on a machine and make sure it works properly, which is most of the time, you have a lot of time to think. This was also done while making toys, which was a scarcity now as there were no new patterns to create.

A Boris plush was grabbed and held in front of the bored face of Shawn. It was a failed toy made by the machine. An arm had been cut too short and sewn on. It was technically a dud but the toy maker thought it was potential for something new, maybe. That is, if the animators, and by extension Joey, would allow an episode to feature Boris missing an arm in some comical fashion. It could definitely make for a good educational episode. After all, people were losing limbs in the war and it would be good to teach children that it was alright.

But that's not his role in the studio. The defective Boris plush stared back at him as he turned it around mindlessly.

There had to be something fun to do. Granted, he could always call down the toons but...

What about everyone else? Yes, he needed to create something for everyone to do. All the major holidays had already passed and no one had been given a break or time to celebrate, really.

He could create one. But there wouldn't be time for it. Holidays are usually day long events anyhow. Then again, who's to say that it would take a whole day to celebrate? Lunch break was a thing, and it was something Joey _had_ to give his employees.

There was another thing: who's to say it only lasts _one_ day. Why not two? Three? A week?

“Hmm...,” he bored his eyes into the table and lightly bobbed in thought with pursed lips. “Six days to get ready, seventh to celebrate,” he said aloud.

Not everyone worked on the same day most of the week, but three days out of the week the studio had everyone arrive. Perfect. Now, what to call it?

The man leaned back in his chair to look around and, while he was at it, stretch. Many things came to mind but they didn't stick.

Toy day? Nah. Ink celebration? Nah. There were a bunch of axes...

Ax day? Axmas? Axter? Axwatch? Axwatch.

Axwatch it is, and Axwatch it shall be.

Shawn stood to find the first person he saw. He had to share the idea of Axwatch. What a poorly coordinated mess this Axwatch shall be.

Funnily enough, Sammy was the first to be informed of this “holiday”. Originally, if Shawn had asked the man a year or two ago, he would have outright rejected. However, nowadays the music producer was much more accepting... and crazy but nobody talked about that.

It was something to do, and there were no rules to Axwatch other than it was a celebration. Shawn told him, “Well, how do _you_ think Axwatch would be done?” and then left.

Axwatch had the word 'ax' in it. Sammy squinted in thought, standing in his little, invaded sanctuary. He was sure he could do what he wanted, but within the studio's guidelines of course. Oh, how he would toe the line so greatly, so _creepily_.

In his mind, Axwatch will be an event to worship the holy ax god... and Henry shall be akin to Jesus. That man, for some reason or another, had an affinity for axes, and that was putting it kindly.

Gods need a shrine and praise and for the whole week leading up to the climax of the holiday, he shall give his heart to this ax god and its son, Henry. Ax bless that man, amen.

Sammy had gotten a shrine together. It wasn't the best but it was a start. An ax leaned up against the wall, ink designs drawn around it on the wall. Two tiny dishes were set in front of it, one containing tiny wood bits from around the studio and the other held tree leaves.

He was in the middle of praying, bowed on the floor, when the door to his sanctuary opened.

' _Damn_ it!' he cursed to himself, ' _I was too busy praising I didn't hear the instruments play_!'

To make it even worse, it was Susie who was standing in the sanctuary's doorway. Staring at him. With a bewildered and scrutinizing look. This was bad.

“What are you... doing?” she said with wide eyes. She knew the musician's sanity was on a decline for some time, but she didn't know it was _this_ bad.

Wide eyes equally stared back at her. He could practically feel himself sweating bullets. What was he to say? He couldn't excuse this, he looked like a complete loony! Though, admittedly that _had_ been the intention... he just wasn't ready to make a public display of this yet.

“Axwatch.”

“Oh...” There was a heavy silence again but at least she wasn't looking at him like he was crazy. Mostly.

Just before it could get any more awkward, she spoke again, “Wally said the same thing when I asked him what the heck he was doing. He has symbols drawn onto his skin and axes tied to his back. He ran off before I could ask him what this 'Axwatch' was. Perhaps _you_ could tell me?” She rose an eyebrow at him, like there was some juicy secret that she needed to sink her teeth into.

It wasn't a secret and Sammy calmed and stood. “Shawn thought there needed to be a holiday so he thought up of Axwatch. It's on next week's Tuesday but the holiday is in action right now at the preparation phase. At least, that's how I interpreted it. You just celebrate it how you think it should be celebrated. Everyone comes together to celebrate on the last day in the cafeteria.”

Surprisingly calm was the explanation delivered considering what had just happened. In reality Sammy was still shaken on the inside.

Susie hummed, considered, then nodded and smiled. “That sounds like fun.” She thought about it some more, Sammy standing a little awkwardly in case she still needed him. “Sorry to interrupt your session but I need rehearsal.”

“Right, right!” He gave a quick glance to his shrine, deemed it alright, and headed off with her with a “Let's go.”

 

Bertrum was extravagant but this was a bit much _and_ a little different from the norm. Had a ride design been instantly approved by Joey or something? Tom didn't know.

The mechanic thought to confide in the other mechanic, Lacie. She was a tough woman, but she too was acting a tad off. She had hung various pieces of metal parts from string and nailed it to the ceiling. He found that from a certain angle the hanging bits formed the shape of an ax.

' _What the hell_?'

Those two weren't the only ones. Others had been going just as coo-coo.

Tom swore that if Joey had done something, he was going to ram his wrench so far up his you-know-where just to reach that loose screw and fix him.

“I got you some coffee.”

A mug was slid in front of him and he turned his face out from his hand and huffed.

“Thanks, Bendy.” He tiredly drank from the cup. Even the demon was acting a bit off. At least he could still make his coffee just right. He always aimed to please. He remembered Jack saying something about the toon fearing to be disliked. Personally he didn't care if people liked him or not but was sympathetic to the toon's plight. He was an innocent being, he deserved this gesture.

“You look upset.”

Ah, and that was another thing. Tom looked upset all the time but the devil could always tell when it was genuinely so. It ticked him off sometimes but again, Bendy was like a child.

“I just,” he rubbed the skin between his eyebrows, “people have been acting odd lately, even you.”

“Huh?” The lanky toon tilted his head.

“Something has been going on lately. It's sudden too. If Joey did so-”

“Oh!” Bendy interrupted and laughed. Tom shot him an odd look. “I guess nobody has told you yet?”

“Hasn't told me _what_?” he snapped. He didn't mean to be mean but he was a little desperate and irritated.

Luckily Bendy took this as excitable interest with that way he leaned in closer, and in a sense by doing that he changed the atmosphere like so: no longer tense and dreadful but energetic and excitable.

“Axwatch!”

“Ax- huh?”

“Axwatch!!” the toon shot his arms up. Tom blinked at him. Was this one of those comedic pacing moments- Bendy's arms went back down and he sunk lower on the table to look up at the man. He was the image of a happy and vibrating child.

“It's a holiday and you can celebrate it however you want! It's lasting until Thursday where everyone will gather in the cafeteria to all party together! Oh, and uh,” he got quiet and looked around, “don't tell Joey because uh... Grant said he would shut this holiday down if he found out. And it sounds really fun so don't tell him please!” The explanation ended with the toon holding his finger over his toothy smile.

If Bendy wanted to play comedic pacing/timing, so would he. It was hard to not quirk his brows up but he managed. The devil wasn't waning.

He leaned back and looked off to the side, slowly bringing the cup to his lips and taking a sip. In the corner of his eye he could see the demon start to falter into a crestfallen expression.

“I wonder if I can best Lacie somehow...”

He wouldn't tell a soul but the sudden joyous smile brought to Bendy's face made his heart swell. It was hard to keep himself in line.

Perhaps he could fashion himself some armor made from simple mechanical parts. He'll join in the fun too.

 

It was like a whole other world Joey had just walked into, or, rather, descended into. There were times he regretted the building choices he had planned and had made.

It wasn't just the fact that the cafeteria was led down to by stairs, but also that the entire studio was made out of wood. Granted, that's how most of buildings are made, but he could have incorporated brick. Wooden structures tend to not keep most sounds in just one room. They echo all throughout.

So, because of this blind foresight, he was able to hear the distant throng of noise accompanied with chanting. All the way down in the studio... where his office was.

Curious, he had gotten up to check out what was going on and was assaulted with whatever chaos-- _this_ is!

Normally, his arrival would cause all to stop and straighten up, but the people only spared him a passing glance if they caught sight of him.

On the far wall, in big, poorly inked, letters was the grand word 'AxWAtcH'. Telling from the leaking splotched lines, the ink was recent and was _heavily_ applied. An ax flew and lodged itself into the banner along with a call of “Oops!”

His employees were nuts. Wearing pieces of metal, ink stained cloaks, hell- even a full on custom suit of armor! The toons were even taking part in this insanity too!

Since Joey wasn't able to locate Tom (the only one sensible in Joey's book), the second person out of all that Joey chose to ask was Susie. She too was participating, wearing a cloak with two axes tied to her upper back. She was ladling some strong smelling liquid into her cup.

“What's going on?” he stage whispered. He was still upset but just more perplexed than anything.

The voice actress turned to him, hair flowing around to drape over her shoulder. She smiled warmly saying, “Mr. Joey Drew! You finally showed up! We're just celebrating a made-up holiday since, you know,” she teasingly eyed him up and down, “we weren't able to celebrate any traditional holidays. It's good fun!”

The idea of this whole holiday thing was starting to grow on Joey. He could see the appeal. Everybody was having a great time. They looked relaxed, no tired eyes and crooked backs.

“Yea...,” he nodded shortly, “Yea, it is good fun-”

There was a sickening crack but the noise in the room continued. The boss of the studio looked in horror as Boris pulled on the ax that had been lodged into Bendy's chest. The apple on top of Bendy's head rolled off and fell onto the floor.

“Oh, they've been at that for a while now. I guess not everything the toons do affects real world physics.”

Teeth clicked back into place from an open jaw and Joey gave Susie a look. “I'm going to sit down somewhere, if you don't mind.” He didn't wait for Susie's go-ahead to locate a chair and slump down into it, where he was passed a lit candle by Sammy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I don't really care for the studio staff but I'll write them anyways. This fic has been a journey from my comfort zone but I have found a bit of comfort in this unfavored area. So much so that I have written way more than 6 chapters. I thank all who have commented and have given me support through that- you guys pushed me to create more chapters in the first place.
> 
> My word do I love Terry Pratchett's Disc World Series.


	20. Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy is back in the world he first awoke in. His friends are back to their formal selves, and everything is perfect. It's practically a dream come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one everybody! The title has more meanings than one, huh?

The ink machine was a peaceful place. A space for him to take residence in and rest away the hours. Nothing to bother him. It was quiet save for the rushing ink and machinery which Bendy was able to tune out. It was just him, the projector screens, and his comfy throne chair.

He couldn't sleep but he could doze. To him, dozing _is_ sleeping, since he'd never truly slept before. Maybe he has slept? He doesn't care to remember much right now.

The toon heavily sighed and melted further into the groove of his large chair. The history of how that groove was formed was not a nice or comfortable one, but ever since he was freed from his chains it was once more comfortable. Silly how that worked.

The groove was deep and he sunk further and further. Dozing made his mind slow but he noticed something off. It was a passing query but nothing else was happening aside for slowly sinking further and further back until he was laying down.

' _Did I slink down my chair again_?' he wondered. It happened sometimes when he was most tired. His back was lying down and his knees were bent but they were too high up. His leg tipped and fell to the side into the grass.

Wait. ' _Grass_?'

The doze was gone and in its place was alertness. Bendy sat up and looked around himself. He gasped. He was in a gray pasture of grass! He was also a lot closer to the ground than normal.

His knees had no joints! Only a rounded curve. And his gloves! Two! Two perfectly clean and white gloves, both sporting four fingers.

The toon had to calm down otherwise he feared his heart would explode! He slowed his racing heart with deep breathes but it didn't quell his excitement. Should he be excited, though?

Bendy had no idea what brought him back to the world he came from; ok, not exactly the _first_ place but one he was truly given life with.

He shook the thoughts away with his head. “If _I'm_ here, then that means the others are too!”

The devil pushed himself up and quickly made work of running and looking around for his friends. He tripped and stumbled a few times but his body felt correct in a way he remembered it being.

In true, cartoon and time-saving fashion, was Boris. The wolf was lying up against a shady tree and lazily blowing out notes from his clarinet to the sheep on the pasture below.

It was such an iconic scene to Bendy, one that brought on a heavy feeling of nostalgia. Only on paper and in his memories did Boris ever do this.

“Boris! Boris!” the devil called, scampering up to his friend.

The notes stopped and Bendy had the wolf's attention. “What is it, Bendy? Something wrong?”

“Something wrong?” Bendy parroted, “No, nothing's wrong! I'm just happy to see you alive and whole again!”

Boris squinted at Bendy. He couldn't wrap his head around what the toon was on about. He scoffed a laugh saying, “What do you mean? I've always been alive.”

The wind brushing over the land felt fake. “Uh... you don't remember? The studio...?”

The look on Boris' face grew more and more confused. There was a bit of pity too. He wanted to know what his pal was going on about, really. It seemed like it was distressing him quite a bit that he wasn't remembering what he, supposedly, was supposed to remember.

“Sorry, I don't know anything about a studio.”

Uh oh. This wasn't good. Well, maybe it _was_ , but how come he was the only one who remembered?

Oh! He had an idea.

Bendy felt around himself before reaching behind to pull out a piece of paper and a pen.

“Maybe _this_ will help jog your memory!” he said, hand and arm a blur as he scribbled. The paper was presented to the wolf.

The toon devil really expected to hear a drum-roll for how long Boris was staring at it. He knew he just showed it, but time seemed to slow. At least his heart could replace the off-duty drum player.

Boris leaned back and sighed. “No, still doesn't ring any bells. Sorry.”

Darn. He was really hoping. The devil slumped.

“Maybe it's a supernatural thing?” Bendy perked up at the suggestion. “Alice might remember.”

“Yes! Yes! Call down Alice!” the demon said, jumping up and down. He wasn't so much excited to ask her than he was going to see her again- sane this time and true to character.

“Alright, give me a sec.” He easily put his mouth to the reed and blew.

Alice's tune flowed into the heavens above. The tinkling of stars was heard and parting the clouds was the angel herself.

“Hello, you two!” she said kindly. Her feet touched the ground and the sky was yet again back to its old self.

“Alice!” Bendy cheered. The angel looked flattered that the toon was overly happy to see her. It was genuine too. Usually she and the devil didn't get along as much, so this was a nice surprise.

“Hey, Alice. How goes it up there?” the wolf asked.

“It's doing just lovely,” she swooned. “In fact, I was just flying with a flock of doves when I heard your wonderful music.”

“I can tell!” Bendy said, pointing to a spot on her head, “You've got a white feather in your hair.”

The angel made no move to remove the gift. She instead giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Quickly Boris was realizing they were starting to get off track as to why they had Alice come down. However, he thought it odd how Bendy was being especially nice to the angel. He'll take this as a good change.

“The reason we called you down was that Bendy has a question for you. He asked me but I wasn't able to... remember?” Boris looked to Bendy for clarification and got a nod. “Yea, so I thought that you would be able to, since you're a supernatural being like Bendy is.”

“Oh, really? What's the question then?”

Faced with the go ahead, Bendy hesitated as he got an epiphany. What if Alice doesn't remember? After all, the two 'alice's were mostly just her voice actresses turned ink. Though, Susie did have a tendency to slip into Alice, he still wasn't sure.

The only way he's to find out if she knew was to ask her. Oof, he really didn't think this question would hold a ton of weight but it did.

“Do you... Do you remember the studio?” The end of that question was pitched higher and longer as he was worried and, frankly, desperate. The paper crumpled in his hands.

Just like the demon dreaded, the angel gave him a confused look. “Studio?”

She said it as an option to elaborate. The way the toon devil was looking at her was saddening. She didn't know exactly what was troubling him, but demon or no, she would help him if she could.

Bendy looked down at the drawing and slowly turned it around for her to see.

The angel's eyes traveled the page but she could not recognize a lick of it. Of course it was the inside of a building but it was one she'd never seen before.

Alice's wandering eyes made Bendy's face fall completely crestfallen. How come his friends didn't remember but he could? Why was he the only one?

“I'm sorry, Bendy. I don't recognize anything. Maybe you were just having a dream?”

Immediately the sadness that had crept onto the demon's face was snapped off.

“Oh. I hadn't thought of that.” But it seemed so real.

Boris laughed, which helped release the tension, “You must've had a really convincing lucid dream!”

“Eh, more like a looping nightmare, but in the beginning it was really nice.” Something felt off.

A glove was gently placed between the devil's horns. “Don't worry, I'll pray that you'll have the most wonderful dream about anything you like.”

Before, Bendy would've flinched away but this was a nice gesture that he would gladly take.

There was a lot of white movement at the corner of their eyes. Hooves stamping on grass echoed across the ground as they quickly moved into the barn, along with many baas.

“That's funny. I thought your sheep didn't like bedtime,” said Alice. Bendy looked up but the sun was still high in the sky.

Rightfully, Boris gave her a look, Bendy doing the same. “No, they don't like bedtime.” He stood and spied the land for any predators or evil-doers.

However, the one thing he did catch was a low, almost missed, rumbling. His ears twitched and moved to catch on to the noise. “What's...”

The wolf no longer had to strain to hear the noise anymore.

“Rumbling!” Alice exclaimed.

The ground underneath them started to shake. Trees swayed and booming cracks rippled throughout the land. The wood of the barn was jostled in a separated manner but illogically stayed together.

Another mind disorienting crack and the land of the pasture the sheep were previously on split open. Golden light glowed darkly from the fissure. Hands and limbs grasped the sides of the crack and pulled up to reveal beings of black.

“What are those?!” the angel pointed to the dark figures coming out and wandering with abandoned purpose.

Bendy stared at the spectacle. Did he somehow do this? Did he have a power to make his nightmares come to life? This felt like a nightmare.

“Searchers,” the demon said quietly.

“Let's get out of here!” Boris yelled. That was as much a motivator as it was a directive.

They ran down the hill but didn't get as far, as there was another crack with more of those searchers climbing out of it. Alice pointed to the side and they tried running parallel to the splits in the earth.

Like in all bad dreams, there is no hope. The searchers were in front of them, behind them, on the sides. There was no exit for them to run to.

There was a loud squeal and the two boys looked over at Alice, who was now holding her ankle. “It got me!”

“Alice, are you ok?!” Boris held her to himself in a move of security.

The angel's hair blocked her face but her body language was becoming increasingly rigid. Bendy's eyes widened. He innately knew what was happening.

“Boris! Let her go!” he yelled, giving a parting shove just in time for Alice to stumble and turn with a snarl on her face. The lovely angel was no longer herself.

Like the incoming searchers, she too was reaching out at them.

“Alice!” Boris yelled. She had turned so suddenly. It frightened him. They were surrounded.

Just as Alice's finger's brushed the wolf's arm, Bendy's boot made contact with he stomach as he yelled, “No! You're not hurting Boris again!”

The toon wolf's presence behind him left, and Bendy turned around to see that several searchers had grabbed and pulled Boris down. The wolf yelped.

In a last ditch effort to save the only friend left, Bendy grasped the suspenders of Boris' overalls and pulled back. He almost fell over as they dissolved into coagulated ink in his hands.

“Boris!”

The wolf was trying to reach for him but was too consumed by the mass of monsters as he called out, “Bendy! Bendy! Be _ndy_!”

The toon was gone but the calls didn't stop. The mass of black ink creatures writhed around him, threatening but not touching him.

_Bendy_!

Why did this have to happen?

_Bendy_!

_Wake up_!

 

A short, gurgled grumble alerted the man that the demon was finally awake.

“You awake, bud?” Henry asked, just to be sure. His hand smoothed over the devil's head.

Bendy made a low noise and appreciatively butted his head into the retired animator's stomach.

“You're alright. Did you have a nightmare?”

A grunt: yes.

Henry kept soothing between the horns of the large beast of a toon and soon drifted into whistling a gentle tune.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for dad Henry and his son Bendy! Nng! My heart!
> 
> If there's any ideas you readers might have (no matter how old this fic is) and would like me to write out, please- I implore you- tell me! Any extra fics will either be tacked on as a series or as part of this work. I love you guys and thanks for reading my indulgence!


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